Making Memories of Us
by xoxotaylor
Summary: AU Season 5. Lucas and Peyton are finally getting their 'happy ever after', but will it be torn away before it even starts?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: This is an AU-ish Leyton story, with minor Naley and Brulian. AU season 5. It's basically going to be about Lucas 'saving' Peyton, and the trials and tribulations of their life together. There is a much more detailed AN at the bottom of the story if you're confused. Enjoy! BTW; flashbacks as well as internal thoughts are in italics.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own one tree hill or any of the characters. If I did, I would be in my room with chad Michael Murray, not posting this story. Nor do I own 'making memories of us', the title of this story.

"_Finally"_, She thought. _"Lucas will be home tomorrow."_ After a fourth day, stressful meeting after meeting with Lindsay and his other book editors, Lucas would be on his way home. His third novel was finished, and ready to go to the printers. Peyton was more than proud of him. As she often found herself doing when he was gone and she was missing him, she found herself at the river court, drawing in her sketch book. She never knew what she was going to draw when she sat down to draw; she just drew what her heart told her to draw. He thought about calling her to tell her that he was able to sneak away a day early, but he decided to just surprise her. When he pulled into their driveway, he was at first surprised that he didn't see his fiancé's old, 1963 comet in the driveway, but then figured to himself that she was at tric.

"_I'll just wait here for her" _He thought. After unpacking his bags, and ready for the love of his life to get home, he started to become restless. As he settled down to catch the day's sports highlights on ESPN, he heard the doorbell. Quite startled, as most of his family and friends just barged in, often without knocking. As he opened the door, he was very shocked to see 2 policemen on his doorstep.

"Are you Lucas Scott? Fiancé to Peyton sawyer?" The first policeman asked.

"Yes, yes I am." Lucas responded. "Why, what happened? Was there an accident? Is she okay" He responded, becoming more and more alarmed with each question he asked.

"There was an accident." As Lucas heard those four words, he felt his world coming down on him. Like someone had stabbed him in the stomach. He suddenly forgot how to breathe.

_It was late in the evening, and Lucas drug Peyton out of the house. "But Lukeeee," she pleaded, "Dirty Dancing comes in twenty three minutes. You know it's my favorite movie. Are you REALLY going to make me miss it?" She asked. _

"_Oh come on, it'll be worth it. I promise" Lucas smirked. He knew she couldn't resist his smirk. And he was right. After walking down by the boardwalk and making their way on to the beach, it had been way over an hour. Peyton knew she was missing the movie, but she could tell there was something different about Lucas tonight. So she decided not to push it, and just roll with it. Even though she was more than likely missing her favorite part, as Patrick Swayze was telling Jennifer Grey's family that "Nobody puts baby in the corner." She was abruptly shaken out of her thoughts as Lucas splashed her with the rather cold water. Even though it was May, the water was still quite chilly in Tree Hill. "LUCAS SCOTT!" Peyton screeched, "You WILL pay for that!" and smirked at Lucas. They continued to walk hand in hand, occasionally their feet being washed on by the waves. Peyton still couldn't figure out what was going on, Lucas was unusually quiet tonight. Just as she was about to ask Lucas if he was okay, Lucas stopped walking, and turned Peyton to look into her eyes. _

"_Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, you are the love of my life. Ever since I locked eyes with you when you nearly run me over, I knew I was going to love you forever. I can't promise that life is going to be easy. I can't promise that that she sun will always shine." _

"_I am dating such an author" Peyton thought, but still oblivious to where this was going. _

"_But I can promise you this," Lucas continued, "there is nothing that will make me stop loving you. I promise you that. And I promise you that I will be by your side forever. And whatever life throws you, I'll be there to help you, and support you, and love you. Like I've said, I'm going to love you forever Peyton Sawyer and I want to start showing you now" He said, as he dropped to one knee. "Will you marry me?" _

_She begged her voice to say that one simple word, but her voice just wasn't working. But she knew that Lucas could see her answer in her eyes. As she nodded her head up and down, she was finally able to say those precious words. "Yes, yes baby YES!" She practically screamed. Once Lucas was standing, and placed that precious ring on her fourth finger on her left hand that was once used by Keith to propose to his mother, he kissed her. He knew it was special, for he wasn't just kissing his girlfriend. He was kissing his fiancé. And she wasn't just kissing her romantic, over dramatic, such-an-author boyfriend, he was her fiancé… and she never thought that she could love him any more than she did in that moment._

"She's on her way to the ER right now. I'm sorry Mr. Scott. Apparently, she was in an accident. We're not exactly sure what happened, but a witness called in saying he saw her swerve to miss a child who ran into the road. If you'd like, you can follow us the hospital." Lucas barely heard anything the officers were saying. All he could think about is how she was supposed to be home. In his arms. Telling him how much she missed him, how she hated him being gone, and how she loved him. But now she was in the ER, and he wondered if he'd ever get a chance to see her again. Hold her again. Kiss her lips, smell her hair. He barely noticed as they pulled up to the hospital, and jumped out while the car was still running. As he rushed into the ER, he realized that he needed to call Haley and Nathan. Rushing to the nurses' station, he stuttered to the nurses,

"My-my fiancé, she was br-brought into here earlier, s-s-she was in a car accident... is she okay?"

The nurse looked up, obviously not thrilled that she was disturbed, and said, "Take a seat. The doctor will be out shortly."

As Lucas unwillingly took a seat, he took out his phone to call Haley. After the third ring, Nathan answered." Nate? Hey its Lucas... look. Peyton was in an accident... I'm at tree hill hospital... can you and Haley come? They haven't told me how she is, but I don't think its good man. I can't... I can't lose her, I can't Nate!"

"It's okay man, we're on the way. Do you need us to call Brooke?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks man." Lucas said as he hung up the phone. As he tried to keep his mind from thinking the worst things, he thought back to the last conversation he had with Peyton.

"_Hey baby" Peyton purred as she answered the phone_

_. "Hey pretty girl" Lucas replied. "How was your day?" Lucas questioned. _

"_It was aiiight. Haley has been pushing mia to 'live a little', and it has paid off! She came in all bubbly and ready to record a new song. It's great Luke! You'd be so proud of her" _

"_I am," he replied. "I'm also very proud of you. Do you know how hard it is to open up your own label at the ripe ol' age of 22? And for it to be this successful? I'm so proud of you baby. You don't know how much" _

"_Oh stopppp!" Peyton Sawyer never could take a compliment. But Lucas loved how she blushed even the slightest if you mildly bragged on her. But he knew deep down she loved it, and he loved doing it. "I have something to tell you" Peyton said. _

"_What, are you okay? Is everything alright?" Lucas inquired. _

"_Oh no, no, everything's fine. I promise. I'll tell you when you get home, okay?"_

"_Allllright. You know I'd rather you tell me now though" Lucas said. _

"_I know I know. But look, I gotta go, okay? Tomorrow. You get home tomorrow. I can't wait. You know I hate it when you gone Luke..." _

"_I know Peyton. I'll be home tomorrow. I love you." _

"_I love YOU."_

It had bothered him the whole day what it was that she had to tell him, but he didn't worry too much. He knew she'd tell him if it was important; but still. He wanted to know what it was, especially now that she was injured. He was shook from his thoughts as he saw a doctor walking into the waiting room.

"Family of Peyton Sawyer?" the doctor said. "Yes, I am "Lucas said as he stood up.

"Miss Sawyer sustained many injuries in the accident. She had a crushed spleen, which we were had to remove, 2 broken ribs which, many cuts, and took quite a bump to her head. She also had a rather deep laceration in her head. I can only assume that it came from the shards of glass of the windshield. We were forced to shave quite a bit of her hair off to be able to sucher it she's very fortunate though, she suffered no internal brain damage from the cut. If it had been just a half an inch over, she would have severe brain damage. She's still unconscious, and we've given her some medications to keep it that way." The doctor noticed Lucas' quizzical facial expressions and continued, "It's best for her body to heal its self while she is unconscious. We'll keep her severely medicated for a couple days, and then we will slowly reduce the medication, allowing her body to wake up on its own, in its own time. But I will warn you, it could take up to 5 days." The doctor also noticed the fallen face that Lucas was sporting. "You're welcome to go see her. But I warn you, she has many tubes and bandages, and it can be quite shocking to see for the first time. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to tend to."

Before he walked away, Lucas stopped the doctor and thanked him full-heartedly. As he returned back to where he was sitting, he saw Nathan and Haley walking in. as soon as Haley saw Lucas, she rushed to his side. Even though Haley was Lucas' best friends, she could count on one hand how many times she had seen him cry. But she could tell he had been crying by the redness and puffiness of his eyes. As she embraced him in her arms, Nathan also knew that his older brother was hurting.

"How is she man?" Nathan asked.

"Not good… well, I mean, she's still alive so that's good... I guess, but she's unconscious." Lucas knew he was rambling, but he just couldn't compose himself enough to form complete sentences. "The doctor just came out and here… and-d, s-she-ee…" Lucas couldn't continue, and broke down. After receiving another hug from Haley, he composed himself, and continued. "Her spleen ruptured or busted or something, I really don't know, so they had to remove it. She also has some broken ribs, and she hit her head really hard on the steering wheel or something. She also has a really bad cut on her head… they had to shave some of her hair off. And she also has cuts on her body from the glass. She's still unconscious, but the doctors gave her medicine to keep her that way. He said it was better for her or something… I really don't know" Lucas finished with a puff.

Haley just looked at her best friend, seeing the hurt in his eyes. She didn't know how to make it better, but she knew she needed to try anyway. "She's a fighter Luke, you know that. She'll get through it. She's stronger than you give her credit for… look at what she's already over come. Two psycho Derek's, losing a mother, and I gotta say, those little 'brawls' with Brooke weren't pretty" She said, trying to lighten the mood a little. She saw a trace of a grin on Lucas' face, and knew she has succeeded a little bit.

"The doctor said I could see her. Like I said, she's still unconscious and has all kinds of tubes and bandages and monitors, but I don't know if I can do it or not…" Lucas said. Deep down, he wasn't sure if he could stand seeing his Peyton like that. He protected her with his life. Nobody even looked at her wrong without Lucas going all 'a-wall' on them. He couldn't stand knowing that he couldn't help her. That he couldn't save her. He just didn't know if he could take that or not.

"Luke, she needs you. I know it'll be hard, but you have to" Haley encouraged. "But what will I do? I mean, we can't exactly finalize wedding plans…"

And then it hit him. The wedding was in 49 days. Less than 2 months. 7 weeks. He knew that it wasn't going to be this grand gala that would be THE event of the year, but he knew it would be special in its own way. With the help of Brooke, Lucas and Peyton had planned a simple ceremony near 'their spot'. It was going to be small, with only their closest family and friends there. But even at that, their guest list was still quite long. By the time you involve Lucas' book editors, and Peyton's artists' that she had on her record label, along with her label partners, it was going to be exactly small. They had planned a reception at TRIC, and Brooke had backed off with the wedding, but she said that her best friend wasn't going to have a quiet, non-chalant reception. With Brooke's help, the reception was going to be quite the party. And even thought Peyton originally wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, she had come to love the idea of having this amazing party to celebrate her and Lucas' love. Lucas was a smart man, and just let Brooke and Peyton run with the reins, and only spoke when Peyton asked him something. But with Brooke having to fly to NY more often with COB, Peyton was asking more and more of Lucas' opinion. And like many grooms-to-be, he acted like he didn't care and that it kinda bothered him, but deep down, he loved it. And Peyton knew it. Even though he really didn't care whether or not the table clothes were Christmas red or crimson red, he couldn't tell the difference between the two. But he loved staying up well into the morning with Peyton, sitting at their kitchen table, going over the smallest details.

After all that planning, she might not get to experience it.

And it broke his heart.

Nathan broke him from his thoughts as he said, "I'm going to go to the cafeteria and get some coffee… I'll bring back enough for all of us. You need anything else Luke?"

"Oh no, no no I'm fine. Thanks bro." Lucas responded, then adding "What time is it anyway? And Jamie? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"_Always thinking of others",_ Haley thought, then said "Deb is at home with him. And it's about 2:30 am now."

"_Time sure flies," _Lucas thought. "_Wasn't it just 30 minutes ago that I sitting at home, watching ESPN? No, I guess that was 9 hours ago…" _Lucas reasoned with himself. "Hey hales… your right. I do need to go see her, I am. I'll be back in a little bit, okay? I really can't say how long. But if you and Nathan need to leave, go. You don't know how much I appreciate this." Lucas said as he pulled Haley into another hug.

"No prob. Luke. You take your time. Nathan and I will be out here when you get done. I promise."

As Lucas walked down the hall in the emergency room, through the doors, he started to mentally prepare himself for what his eyes were about to see. As he stood at the door, with his fiancé just on the other side of the door, he took one last breath, closed his eyes, and opened the door.

**A/N ; okay, that was the first chapter. What'd ya think? Anyway, in case you're wondering, here is some more info that might clear some things up.**

**Peyton came back after the internship in LA, and she and Luke went to college together. Luke is the head coach at the ravens, as well as a published author. Peyton runs red bedroom records. **

**Luke/Lindsay never happened. She is just his editor.**

**Nathan/Haley are the same. Except Nathan never had his accident, and he now plays for the Charlotte bobcats. Haley is a teacher at tree hill high.**

**Brooke/Julian. Brooke continues to run Clothes over Bro's from Tree Hill, and she met Julian in New York. They're currently dating.**

**I think that about covers it. If you have any questions, just let me know. Please review, I have most of this story written, I just gotta know if you want it**

**xoxo, taylor**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N; okay. here is MY end of the deal! (don't worry readers, this is an inside joke) **

**Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed and added me to a story alert. It means so much to me! And a MAJOR shoutout to maygen lauren, my best friend and beta-er. Okay, pretty sure that's not a word, but whatever. She's helped me so much, pushed me, and gave me the support I've needed to write this, and in my personal life. Thanks so much for EVERYTHING girl, I appreciate it so much. Btw, her stories are AMAZING, so go check 'em out (: without further anew, here is the 2****nd**** chapter! **

As the door creaked open, he saw her. Lying there, motionless. If it wasn't for the constant beeping of the heart monitor, he would have sworn she was dead. She had IV's in both arms, a ventilator down her throat, heart monitors attached to her chest, and countless other tubes coming out of various body parts that he couldn't remember what they were for. He saw the bandages and gauze on her arms and hands and legs, covering up the cuts and stitches she had. And then saw hit. Her hair was gone. Replaced by yards of white gauze that kept her laceration clean. And it broke his heart. He didn't realize it, but he had never seen her without hair. Before their senior year, she had cut her hair to above shoulder length, but still. She was completely bald. And he cringed, just for her sake. He knew she would act like it didn't bother her, but he knew that it would. She was never one who cared what others thought of her, but he knew it would kill her to see the looks that people would give her, without any hair. But he could care less. Hair or no hair, cuts or no cuts, spleen or no spleen, she was HIS Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, and nothing could ever change that. As he felt the tears start to sting his eyes yet again, he picked up her hand, and began to talk. The only thing he knew he could do right now.

"Some welcome home party, huh babe?" he said, trying to lighten the mood. "You have no idea how much you scared me. But it's okay, because you here, your alive, and I'm here with you. And I'm not leaving. And neither are you. I believe a certain someone, _ahem_, made me promise to never leave, and I did. Now it's your turn. But you know that. and you're not going anywhere." He stated these facts, reasoning more to himself and his heart than anything else.

"Ya know Peyt, if you weren't getting enough sleep, you could have just told me. You didn't have to go and get in a car wreck just so you could sleep for a couple days," He chuckled, desperately trying to keep his mind from thinking the worst.

"And when you wake up, it's gonna be hard, and you'll probably be in some pain. You're going to be really sore and knowing you, pretty cranky. But don't worry. I'll be here to help you, every step of the way. I'll be beside you. And when you can't stand up any more, I'll carry you. And if I can't, I'll lay down beside you." As he said these words, it reminded him of their senior year spring break.

"_Can you believe it Peyt? We leave tomorrow! Good bye finals and exams and professors who could care less, and hello beautiful Bahamas!!"_

_Peyton just had to chuckle at Lucas' excitement. She wasn't sure who was more excited, her or Lucas. Brooke and her new boyfriend, Julian Baker were already there. They flew down a few days before, so they could spend a few days by their selves. With Brooke busy in new York running her very popular and successful business Clothes Over Bro's, and Julian busy flying from LA to New York working on movies, they barely had time to send each other text messages, let alone spend quality time together. Peyton had met Julian during one of her short, weekend trips to New York to see Brooke, but Lucas had yet to meet him. _

"_Yeah babe, I'm so excited." Peyton responded. _

"_Are you okay p? You sound a little... Unenthused…" Lucas said_

_. "I don't know Luke. I've been feeling a little outta it today. It must have been that pizza I ate last night. But I'll be fine. I am just DREADING that 4:30 flight out of RDU in the morning.. ugh! You know me. I do NOT do mornings!" Peyton said. While Peyton had her own dorm on the other side of the campus, she was staying in Lucas' apartment for the night, since they had such an early flight._

"_I think I'm going to take a shower then call it a night, 'kay?" "Okay that sounds good Peyt. Just holler if you need anything." Lucas responded. _

_After showers and final bag checks for their passport, iPods and plane tickets, they both settled in for the night. Lucas woke up to the sound of his name being called. He starts to mumble something about it being early and he wants 5 more minutes, until he hears it again and realizes that it's Peyton, coming from the bathroom. As he climbs out of bed and walks over to the bathroom, he becomes worried. Of all the times they've spent the night together, she has never woke him up for *this* purpose. _

"_Peyton?" Lucas calls out from behind the closed door. He hears a mumble of a response, and opens the door. The sight he sees breaks his heart. Peyton is hurled over the toilet, vomiting the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Lucas rushes to her side, pulls her hair back, and begins rubbing circles in her back. After she finishes, and attempts to sit up, Lucas gets a damp wash cloth and begins to help her wash her mouth and face. Right after they get through, she feels another wave of nausea, and she throws up again. After wiping her mouth again, Lucas says, "c'mon. Let's get you back to bed." _

"_Wait a sec, Luke," Peyton says. "I might go for round 3, can you just stay here with me?"_

"_Of course I will Peyton" Lucas says, as he pulls Peyton onto his lap. "Just close your eyes, and I'll be here if you need me, 'kay?" Lucas said, but when he looked down, he realized Peyton was already fast asleep in his arms. He leaned up against the bathroom wall, and closed his eyes as well. He woke up later on, and looked down and Peyton was still in his arms, just as she was when he closed his eyes. After some re-arranging of Peyton, he stood up and carried Peyton back to bed. _

"_Lucas?" She murmured, half asleep and adorably out of it, _

"_Yeah?" he responded. _

"_What time is it? We need to leave! We're going to miss our flight!" Obviously becoming more awake with each sentence she said. _

"_Hey hey, settle down. It's about 7:30. You are obviously in no condition to go to the Bahamas. Now. Lay on the bed while I go get you some water, okay?" _

"_But Luke, why didn't you wake me? I know how important this trip was to you, you've been so stressed with finals and all. You should have left! I would have been fine myself" she said. _

"_No way blondie. I'm not leaving you, now or ever. And it's okay. Ya know why? Cause just looking at you makes my day better. Just holding you in my arms erases all of the stress of my day. I don't need any beaches or resort to do that. No, I'll be right back ; I need to get you some medicine" Lucas said. After kissing her gently on the forehead, he walked off to his kitchen. Returning with medicine and water in hand, he found a sleeping Peyton in his bed. He laid the medicine on his night stand, and took his phone out to call and tell Brooke that they wouldn't be coming. He climbed back in bed with Peyton, and as he felt her move to cling to him, he knew he had done the right thing._

She stayed sick all that week, and lost over 10 pounds in 4 days. She lived in his house, in his old, faded ravens tee-shirt, that whole week. Lucas couldn't help but smile as he remembered how she wanted him beside her the whole time.

"I'll be here Peyt; I promise I'll be here. And take your time. I'll wait forever if I have to" Lucas said. He was shaken from his thoughts as he heard a soft knocking at the door. As he turned to look at the door, he saw Nathan, with coffee in hand.

"Hey Luke, here's some coffee. I was just going to let you know, I gotta head back to Charlotte, but Hales is still here. And skills, Brooke and Julian just got here too." He said as she handed him the coffee.

"Thanks Nate. I know this how you wanted to spend your last night at home" Lucas said, with a shrug.

"Oh no prob man. I didn't mind at all. I just wish it could have been under better circumstances" Nathan said, as he was looking at Peyton. It was hard to look at his ex-girlfriend, now future sister-in-law, lying in the hospital bed.

"I know it's late, well early now. Tell Hales to go home. She has class today. She needs some sleep, especially since she's going to be around high schoolers all day" Lucas said.

"Oh no way! I already called Turner, and he knows she isn't coming in. She said nothing could stop her from being here, when her best friends needed her" Nathan said. "Has there been any change?" he inquired.

"No, but I guess no news is good news. Especially now. She'll just be… asleep for a while. As long as her vitals stay level for the next 24 hours, the doctor said he'll be able to start reducing the medicine, which will let her wake up. On her own time though, so I guess we get to wait some more. And even if everything goes well, it'll still be about 3 days before she could wake up" He said, with a sigh.

He had just been apart from her for 4 days, and now he would have to wait at least 3 more, and even though he was physically with her now, he just wanted to hear her. Hear he laugh, see her roll her eyes. All the simple things that he didn't realize he missed.

"Alright. Well I gotta hit the road man. I have my cell if you need me, and Haley is going to keep me updated." Nathan said as he pulled Lucas into a brotherly hug, and picking up Peyton's hand and giving it a light kiss.

As Brooke and Julian stroll into Tree Hill Hospital hand in hand, they saw Haley sitting and tapping her foot nervously. They walked up, and Haley stood up to hug Brooke. Julian continued to keep his hand on the back of his now fiancé.

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N; thank you to everybody who has reviewed, smc-27, lalez, juzzy88, maygen lauren, annie-escape, lukenpeyton4ever, XmissmoiX, leytonfan3223, mthrone13, leyton4ever35, and marybethothfan. You guys ROCK. So this chapter is for you (:

And as always, I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters, I just like to play with them.

"Wh-what happened?" Brooke asked, as she took Julian's hand and intertwined their fingers.

"I don't know exactly what happened. I'm not even sure if Lucas knows. Peyton was at the river court, and she was driving home, and a drunk driver ran a red light and slammed into the side of her" Haley said, trying not to get choked up as she saw her friends face fall. "And what is worst, the other driver walked away, without a scratch… and Peyton is in there, and who knows if she'll wake up…"

As all the different scenarios played out in Brooke's head, she tried to muster out anything she could. She felt like her world was spinning madly out of control. So she did the only thing she could. She collapsed into Julian's ever so waiting arms, and just cried. Julian whispered, "It's okay… shhhh, it's okay… she'll be okay" into Brooke's ear as he continued to rub his fiancé's back.

"Okay Brooke, why don't we sit down?" Julian offered as he ushered Brooke to the chairs that were surrounded by Haley and Lucas' items.

"Where's Luke?" Brooke finally said.

"He's in the room with Peyton." Haley said. "At first he didn't want to go in, but he did. He has been in there for a while now." As Haley finished speaking, she saw Lucas walking down the hallway leading to the waiting room.

As they all stood up to greet him, he spoke. "She's stable enough now to be moved to the ICU where they can monitor her better. But, no one is allowed to stay it her, you can only see her during pre-set visiting hours" Lucas said, as his face fell. Both Brooke and Haley hugged him as he continued, "If you want to see her Brooke, you can go in right quick. They're still setting up her room in the ICU so it'll be a few minutes."

Brooke wasn't sure what do. Of course she wanted to see her best friend, but she wasn't sure if she could handle it. As she looked to Julian for comfort, he nodded her on. "Okay… I'll be back in a few minutes, guys."

As she walked away, Lucas said "I'm going to go get some coffee.. I need to get away from here. I'm just going to run to the cafeteria… I have my phone in case something happens." Lucas said, leaving Haley and Julian in the waiting room.

As Lucas walked down the long, white, sterile hallways, he saw his long time friend, obviously lost. "Uhm, skills, what are you doing _here_?" Lucas said, as he walked up to him.

"Yo Luke, man, I've been trying to find the waiting room for the past hour. You know how I don't do directions… or help for that matter. How's Sawyer doing?" skills said, as Lucas walked up.

"She's… stable. For now anyway.. Haley and Julian are in the waiting room, and Brooke just went back to see her. Haley will tell you what's going on… I don't think I can right now. I needed to get away for a minute. Just go down here past the nurses' station, and then turn right. You'll see the waiting room at the other end of the hallway." Lucas replied.

"iight dawg; I'll see ya in a few" skills said as he slapped Lucas on the back, as they both continued to their destinations.

As Lucas waits in line at the cafeteria to get his coffee, his phone rang. As he looked down at his caller ID and saw "Haley cell" flashing on the screen of iPhone, his pulse quickened.

"What's wrong?" he said, as he answered the phone.

"Nothing, it's okay, settle down Luke" Haley said. "The doctor just came and told us that she was moved to the ICU, on the 7th floor. She's all set up there."

Lucas released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Oh okay, great. I'll be up there in a minute; I'm still in line to get coffee" Lucas replied.

"Okay, see ya in a minute. Bye!" Haley responds.

-----------------

As Lucas stepped off the elevator onto the 7th floor, he saw all of his friends and family, sitting in the uncomfortable chairs just to be with him. Skills, Bevin, Nathan, Haley, Brooke, Julian, Mouth, Karen and Keith, all there to support and comfort him. His heart was suddenly swollen with love and appreciation for all the people that have meant so much to him during the past. He walked into the room and took a seat beside his mother.

"Oh honey, it'll be okay, I know it" Karen said, trying to comfort her son.

"Thanks ma" Lucas replied, with no emotion at all. She could tell that the life had been taken right out of him. Ever since the summer she spent in LA, they spent every waking moment together. They both admitted that the summer she was in LA was the hardest thing they had ever done. He flew out to LA twice, and she surprised him on his birthday by flying home for the day. It took every bit of will-power Peyton had not to tell him she was coming home, but she wanted to see the surprise on his face. So she left LA at 3:30 in the morning, and thanks to oh-so-lovely 6 hour flight, and time difference, she still didn't arrive at his house till 12. With some help from Nathan and Haley, she made sure that Lucas was out of the house when she got there, and she as lying on his bed when he opened the door. Peyton didn't even have time to blink before he jumped clear across the room and landed beside her. They spent the day at the beach, under the covers, and went out to eat that night. As Lucas took her back to the airport for her 'red eye' back to LA, it was like the beginning over summer all over again. Standing at the airport. Saying "I love yous" and kisses and putting off goodbye. They stayed there as long as they could, but when Peyton's flight was called, she had to go.

------------------------------

_5 days later _

Peyton had been moved from the ICU to a regular room 3 days ago. The medicine that had been keeping her in the coma had been reduced completely, and she had been off of it for 2 days now. The doctors had expected her to have woken up by now. But she hadn't and it was driving Lucas crazy. He had left only twice since arriving at the hospital 5 days ago, only to rush home, take a shower, and get a change of clothes. And that was only with Haley making him leave, and even at that, he was only gone for 30 minutes max. Her room was filled with flowers, from friends, family, and clients. But as the days rolled on with no improvement, the guests came less and less. There is only so much you can do with a unconscious person, and a restless fiancé. But still, everybody tried to come by at least once a day, and Nathan came by when he as in town.

"_Mr. Scott?" The doctor asked Lucas, as he saw him walking down the hall._

"_Yes doctor?" Lucas replied. "Is something wrong? Is Peyton okay?" Lucas inquired, becoming more and more concerned._

"_No, nothing is 'exactly' wrong, it's just, during surgery…we found something." The doctor said._

"_Something? Like what? A tumor? Does Peyton have cancer?" Lucas responded, suddenly seeing his and Peyton's life flash before his eyes, at the thought of cancer._

"_No, that's not what we found. Actually, we found…"_

Lucas was pulled from his flashback reliving the momentsfrom 4 days ago, as Brooke walked in..

"Hey Luke. Any changes?" Brooke inquired as she walked through the door.

"Nope, none, nada, zilch" Lucas responded.

"Oh, okay." Brooke said, feeling quite sad that her best friend still hadn't made any improvements.

"Hey Luke, can I have a sec?" Brooke asked.

"Sure thing. I'll be right ou-" Lucas was cut off as Brooke continued,

"Outside incase anything happens. I know Luke" Lucas just smirked back.

As Brooke pulled up a chair and sat down, she grabbed her best friends hand and started talking.

"Hey buddy. So. It's about time you wake up. I need help! I mean, I can't decide on champagne or gold lust for the border around the invitations, and Julian is just NO help at all. And I mean, I have GOT to let the printer know by the end of the week and how am I supposed to decide? I want classic, elegance, but I don't want to be all old fashioney, but ARGH! I need my best friend. And Sawyer soon-to-be-Scott, Mr. Broody here is about to go crazy. Last time you saw him he had blonde hair, but by the time you wake up, I'm sure it will all be grey. But. Did you like the scalloped edge or the diamond edge on the save-the-dates? I have to decide on those too. Ohhhh man. and I thought it was hard enough to plan YOUR wedding! Ahhh. What was Julian thinking proposing to me while I was still planning your wedding?" as Brooke said that, she thought back to when she called Peyton to tell her that she was engaged.

_It was 2:30 am. Way too early for anybody to be calling her, and too early for Luke to be awake on the east coast. She had to fly to LA for the week for meetings with some of her investors, and to scope out a couple new bands she had her eyes, or rather ears, on. She moaned, "What do you want." Peyton said as she answered her phone._

"_P. SAWYER! I'm ENGAGED!" Brooke cheered from the other side of the phone line. _

"_Wait. What? You're engaged? To whom?" Peyton asked, still not fully woken up._

"_YES! And you know very well who I'm engaged to!" Brooke screeched, fully awakening Peyton._

"_Well, as your best friend, I have to ask. How'd he do it?" Peyton replied, sarcastically._

"_WELL," Brooke replied, not fazed by Peyton's sarcasm, "We were walking along the Vegas strip, as the sun was setting. Then, he swings his arm out to pull me in front of him. So I do. Then, all of a sudden, he gets on one knee, looks me in the eye, and asks, "Brooke Penelope Davis, what are you doing for the rest of your life" and he is all choking up and I'm just choking up over the fact that HE'S choking up, let alone the fact that I'm getting proposed too and OH that was just like the scene from the movie once-"_

"_Brooke!" Peyton interrupted. "I don't fucking care what movie it's from! What else happened?"_

"_Oh, sorry. ANYWAY. So. I grab both his hands, and I look him in the eye and say "Well, Julian Andrew Baker, I'm planning on spending it with you." And then before I can finish my sentence, he jumps up and like ATTACKS me, not that I'm complaining, and lemme tell ya P. sawyer, we BARELY made it back to that hotel room!" Brooke says, with way to much enthusiasm for it to be in the middle of the night._

"_So let me get this straight. This happened at SUNSET, which is around 7pm, and you're JUST now calling me? Some best friend" Peyton responds, very sleepily._

"_Oh sorry buddy, it's just, we, we were uhm, busy." Brooke says, fully knowing that Peyton knows what she's talking about._

"_Alright miss soon to be Baker, you continue being 'busy' and I'm going to SLEEP. Love ya girl" Peyton says while trying to stifle a yawn._

"_Kay, love you too chica!" Brooke says, as she hangs up the phone._

_-------------------------_

Meanwhile, Lucas was outside the hospital room when his phone rang. He saw the caller ID and mumbled, "Crap, I was suppose to email her my last chapter 5 days ago"

"Hey Lindsay, I know I KNOW I was supposed to email it the last chapter to you 5 days ago but something happ-" Lucas said, before getting cut off by Lindsay.

"Damn it Lucas, you better have a good butt excuse for why I haven't gotten this. I mean somebody better on their death bed!" Lindsay snaped back at Lucas, the venom dripping off her tounge.

"Well Lindsay," Lucas responded, appalled by Lindsay's tone of voice, "Peyton IS in fact. Once I got home from meeting with you and William, Ryden and Kyle, I was at the house when two policemen came and told me there was an accident. She's been unconscious ever since." Lucas responded, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Oh, I- I'm sorry Luke. I didn't know. Well, you have til midnight to send it to me, or this book is canceled." Lindsay responded, quite snappily, while closing the phone.

"W_hat the hell?"_ Lucas thought of Lindsay's last comment. _"Screw the book, I'm NOT leaving Peyton, book or no book. I'd never leave her, not just to email a chapter. No, I'm NOT leaving. So what if they cancel my book, I'll stay here by her side forever."_ Lucas was interrupted from his thoughts as Brooke walked out of her room, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It's going to be okay, right Luke?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, it is, Brooke." Lucas responded, while pulling her in for a hug.

"Okay well I have to get back to clothes over bro's, before momzilla burns it down," Brooke said while rolling her eyes, "But you know the drill. If anything, ANYTHING happens, you let me know, okay broody?"

"Yes Brooke, I know. If she even losses a strand of hair, I must text and call you. We go through this every time you leave." And Brooke just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay, so maybe I'm a controlling best friend. Whatever. Bye Lucas." Brooke replied while starting to walk away.

"bye Brooke!" Lucas called after her.

As Lucas walked back into Peyton's room, he saw the reason his book might get canceled. His Peyton, the one he surprised with The Cure tickets, the mother of future children, his fiancé, the love of his life. As much as he loved writing, and the attention he got, and the adorable fan girls that would run up and ask for his autograph at various places, he knew he would give it all up for her. In a second. No second thoughts. Lucas pulled up a chair and sat beside her, as he always did. His mind continued to flash back to the short conversation with Lindsay. She had been his editor for the previous 4 books, and he was working on magic number 5 now. Peyton had met her at the release party for his 2nd book. Peyton had never been too thrilled with her; she swore she was too friendly to him. And he also noticed how Peyton became a lot clingier to him when Lindsay was near. But hey, he wasn't complaining. He loved clingy, jealous Peyton. no matter how many times he convinced her that he only had eyes for her, Peyton still wasn't 'best friends' with' Lindsay. But he had noticed that Lindsay wasn't as 'friendly' to him since he and Peyton had gotten engaged. So maybe Peyton was right, after all. _"she's not worth my thoughts anyway, not after what she just said"_ Lucas reasoned to himself, pushing his book and Lindsay from his mind**. **He got her iPod, put one of the ear pieces in her ear, and the other side in his ear. As he grabbed her hand, he started rubbing his thumb against her hand in rhythm with the music. He continued doing this for quite some while, and just as he was starting to drift off, he felt her move. He immediately snapped back, and his blue orbs searched over her body.

"Peyton, baby, come on. Wake up." Lucas begged, the lump in his throat becoming bigger and bigger with each word that he said.

And then he heard it. The voice he hadn't heard in over 5 days. The voice he had longed to hear. The one word that made his heart stop. The voice that could melt away the stress of the day. The voice that held his heart. His fiancé.

"Luke?"

A/N 2. OKAY. how a-fricken-mazing was Monday nights episode? AHHHHH! I loved it. It was the perfect ending.. I just wish it WOULD have been the ending. Anyway.. loved the whole 2 minutes of LP, but anyway. Who else is going to die now that we don't have leyton? Ahhhh. PM me & we'll rant together.

&please review, it makes me update(:


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N; I suck. I'm SO sorry it took update, but I was at the beach since last Friday and I just got back today anddddd yeah. but. You guys are AMAZING! Again, thanks to xmissmoix, juzzy88, kylielink, lalez, smc-27, and lukenpeyton4ever for reviewing last chapter. Enjoy!**

"Luke?"

That was it. At first he questioned himself as to whether or not he was just hearing it, but when his eyes met hers, he was snapped back into reality.

"Peyton? baby, yo-your, awake! Are you okay? Are you in pain? What do you need? Oh goodness Peyton, I didn't think I'd ever see you again!"

Even though Peyton was in enormous pain, she couldn't help but chuckle at Lucas. She always loved it when he rambled. Being the author he was, he hardly ever rambled. He always knew what to say, so seeing him at a loss for words always made her smile.

"Luke, baby, I'm right here" she said, as she locked eyes with him for the first time in over 10 days. She couldn't help but close her eyes as he placed gentle kisses all over her face. But as she flinched, Lucas immediately pulled back.

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Lucas asked, with concern over his face.

"No, well, kinda, maybe… yeah. I'm just really sore." Peyton responded as she moved over for Lucas to join her in the bed.

"Ohhh, okay babe. I'm just so glad you're awake, I-I was afraid, that I'd never get to see you again." Lucas stuttered .

"Oh honey, you can't get rid of me that easily. I promise." Peyton responded, while wiping a tear off his cheek with the pad of her thumb.

"How long have I been out?" Peyton asked, as she was now fully awake and realized that she must have been out for quite a while for Lucas to be acting this way. Although, he always hated it when she was away, and she had to admit, she kinda loved going away, just so she could have her 'welcome back home party'.

"_Hey babe. I'm fixing to board my plane, so I should be home around midnight-ish. See you when I get home, I can't wait to get out of LA. I miss you, and can't wait to be home. I'll call you when I land. muah!" Peyton recorded into Lucas' voicemail. She had been in LA for the past 4 days meeting with label executives, sitting in boring meetings, trying to strategize the next move for her artist's. She was forced to go to LA once a month and she always dreaded it. The worst part, was being away from Lucas. After the summer she spent in LA after senior year, she hated to spend any minute away from him. She boarded her plane eagerly, comforting herself with the thoughts that she would be sleeping with Lucas tonight. He had wanted to take her and drop her off at RDU, but she knew that his muse had been running wild, he had been pumping out over 5 chapters a day, and she didn't want to hinder that. Once she found her seat on the plane, she sat down and pulled out her iPod. As she put the ear-pieces in, the familiar tunes lured her into a light slumber._

_As she stood by the luggage claim, she wondered to herself why she had to have a navy suitcase. "Why couldn't I have like a, tie-dyed suitcase instead of plain, freaking NAVY!" she thought to herself. All of a sudden, a pair of familiar, strong hands grabber her waist, obviously scarring the death out of her. _

"_BOO!" _

"_AHHHHHHHH!"_

_As she turned around, her reflexes automatically went to slap whoever was attacking her. As she soon realized that it was her boyfriend, and not a psycho Derek stalker, she couldn't stop her hand in time, and it soon collided with Lucas' face._

"_Crap! Babe I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you, I didn't mean to slap you, but WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING? You know my history with psycho stalkers! You can't just come up and grab me, but what are you doing here? I told you I was fine by myself, but awwwww you came to get me! You're the sweetest boyfriend EVER!" Peyton said, going through many emotions, while Lucas responded to being slapped by a VERY strong Peyton Sawyer, then smirking to himself as she continued her ramble._

"_Gee whiz, lay off the boxing skills Peyton. I just thought I'd surprise you, I didn't plan on being beat-" Lucas' sentence was cut off by Peyton's lips crashing upon his. Lucas soon deepened the kiss as he lifted Peyton off the ground and swung her around. Peyton never was much for the movie-cliché-ey welcome home kisses, but this time she really didn't care. _

"You were out for about 6 days" Lucas said as he brushed her head with his fingers. As she moved her hand up to hold his, she felt her bare scalp. As her face suddenly became worried, as she felt bare skin, instead of her long, curly locks.

"Lu-Lucas? What happened to my ha-hair?" she felt her heart hit her stomach as she noticed the look on Lucas' face. She had seen this face before. This was the face where he had to tell her something that he REALLY didn't want to.

"Peyton, baby," Lucas said, as he took both of her smaller hands into his larger ones, "they had to shave off your hair because you had such a bad cut on your head." Lucas said, seeing the tears in her eyes forming.

"o-oh-," was all Peyton could get out, before the tears and the lump in her throat and the sobs hit her. It's just a mere second until Lucas has her completely engulfed her in his arms.

"Shhh Peyt, it'll be okay. It will grow back, and you know that I don't need your hair to love you. I love YOU. Even if your hair is gone, if it's gray, heck, it could be purple. I love you. There, now, it'll be okay" Lucas comforted Peyton, as he continued to rub her and hold her.

"You did get your chapters sent off to Lindsay, didn't you? They were due Sunday night, and I know I'm kind of groggy, but that was 4 days ago, right?" Peyton asked.

"Well, they, um. Here. You shouldn't be worrying about my problems, you just woke up from a 6 day coma. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Are you sure you're okay? Do you need more pillows or fluffed more or some under your leg or something?" Lucas said hurriedly, trying to change the subject.

"Lucasssss…." Peyton drawled out.

"Peytonnnnn…" Lucas responded, matching her tone.

"Luke, you know I know you. You completely dodged the question, and no I don't need any pillows. What I need is for you to tell the truth!" Peyton said, quite angrily, which surprised both Peyton and Lucas.

"Gee, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Lucas muttered under his breath, receiving a glare from Peyton.

"Fine fine, no I didn't get them sent in. I only left twice while you were unconscious, and that was just to shower and change clothes. Trust me, the novel was the last thing on my mind." Lucas responded, looking into her eyes.

"But Luke, Lindsay's going to have a fit. You know how witchy she gets if stuff isn't on time," Peyton said.

"Going to? She already did. I don't know what's up with her lately… she used to be so nice, and now, I don't know." Lucas said, looking at the floor.

"Oh I know what's going on with her, and you do too Lucas Scott." Peyton said, raising her eye brows at him.

"Peyton, seriously, that is _not_ the issue. She's probably just going through a rough time or something." Lucas reasoned with Peyton.

"Humph. She has been going through a – and I quote – 'rough time' ever since we announced our engagement. Seriously Luke… she likes you" Peyton said whilst rolling her eyes. She wasn't too fond of Lindsay. Or as Brooke called her, 'man faced Lindsay'. Peyton wasn't the only one who had noticed the 'overly' friendly acts of kindness that Lindsay had made, and Peyton and Brooke caught the somewhat snide remarks that Lindsay would make.

"_Hey Peyt?" Lucas called out from their hotel room._

"_Yeah babe?" Peyton yelled back from the en-suite living room._

"_Which tie should I wear? The blue with black rugby stripe, or the navy and red with the white pin stripes?" Lucas asked, as Peyton walked into the bedroom._

"_Honestly Luke? Baby, you're going to be fine. Just breathe. And wear the black and blue one, it brings out your eyes... and besides. You're gonna knock 'em dead. You already wrote _Ravens, Comet, Defining Happiness_ and _Just Laugh. _You've done this 4 times. Besides, I'll be here tonight" after seeing the uneasiness on Lucas' face, Peyton continues. "Luke, honey, what's wrong?" _

"_It's just… we're going to announce _US_ tonight," Lucas said, while taking Peyton's left hand and kissing her engagement ring, "and I just don't know how they're going to take it. I just don't want to get a load of all this BS about how I can't continue this hot streak I'm on if I'm planning a wedding, and you know how they went all ape crap on Andrew when he got engaged… but trust me, your worth anything they do to me." Lucas said, as Peyton nodded. _

"_Alright Mr. hot-shot author Lucas Scott, let's get you to your 4__th__ book launch party" Peyton said, as she walked in front of Lucas. Lucas couldn't help but admire the view from behind. _

"_Hey Peyt?" Lucas called out again, as Peyton turned around to face him._

"_Hmm?" Peyton said._

"_Ya know, if we were to arrive fashionably late.. I wouldn't be aga-"_

"_Ohhhhhhh, no, no, no. we are NOT. Nope. So just get that little idea out of your head, Mr. Scott. Not until AFTER the part… then I'm all yours." Peyton said, noticing his eyes darkened at the thought of the after party._

"_But hey, it's not MY fault I have such a beautiful and pretty FIANCE." Lucas defended himself, as he emphasized the word fiancé. In just the short time that they had been engaged, he had found out that Peyton had a sweet spot for that word._

_------------------_

_As they mingled with fellow book authors, colleagues and critics, Lucas did his thing, talking about books and ideas and other stuff that Peyton had no idea about. But. She did what she knew how to do, stand there, occasionally take a sip from her Dirty Cheerleader, one of Peyton's favorite drinks. And if you asked Lucas, she was doing a dang good job at it too. _

_Throughout the night, he'd glance over and see her talking to some people she had met before at previous parties or functions, or listening to stories that they had to tell. For her to be so out of her element, she sure knew how to just wing it. And she would catch him looking at her, and she'd wink, or he would mouth 'I love you'. Peyton noticed that Lindsay was usually right beside Lucas, and laughing at all his jokes, and being little miss smarty pants. But, after receiving a talk from Lucas on the plane ride to new York, Peyton was being the good girl and taking the high road. But it was hard…_

_Finally it came to the sit down part, or as Peyton called it, the 'boring sit still and act like you give a crap what they're saying' part. Where they all said things, while they tried to make their selves look as good as possible, while still talking about Lucas. After all the speeches and dedications were given, Lucas squeezed Peyton's hand, and leaned in to whisper something into her ear. Peyton caught Lindsay starring at them, so Peyton decided to screw the 'high road' attitude she had been carrying on all night. Peyton raised her eye brows, sucked in her breath, and batted her eye lashes, as if Lucas was telling her something very naughty. But instead he was just saying that he was going to get up and announce their engagement, and he wanted her to be with him. Once he finished, Peyton nodded and gave him a quick kiss. _

"_Excuse me," Lucas said, as he stood up. "I know that we have heard all the speeches and toasts' and dedications, but there is one last thing I would like to say," Lucas finished._

"_Peyton," Lucas said, as he held out his hand, and Peyton placed her smaller hand in his larger hand and stood up to join him."As many of you know, especially if you have read my books, is that Peyton Sawyer is a very important person in my life. She has always been there for me, and has helped me get through many tough things that life has thrown my way and she is the only one who has ever truly had my complete heart." As Lucas said these things, he noticed Peyton taking her free hand and wiping away tears falling down her cheeks. Peyton also noticed a smug-like look on Lindsay's face, Lindsay obviously knew where this was heading. And with that being said, I would now like to announce that Peyton has agreed to take my hand in marriage of which has made the happiest man alive" Lucas said, with a humungous grin on his face, as the entire ballroom erupted in applause._

_Soon Lucas and Peyton were surrounded by people offering their congratulations, and best wishes. Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Julian were naturally the first to congratulate them, even though they already knew. Nathan and Haley had to go pick up Jamie from the babysitters, and Brooke had a few too many drinks, so soon Lucas and Peyton's best friends left. As Lucas and Peyton worked their way through the crowds, trying to get to the door, Lindsay stopped them._

"_awh, you guysss! Congratulations!" Lindsay said, hugging Lucas and Peyton. _

"_I wasn't expecting this! But I'm _sure_ this will not interfere with the book tour," Lindsay said, while giving Peyton an icy glare, "Will it Luke?" she continued, flashing a sweet smile to Lucas. _

"_of course it won't!" Lucas assured her, "she's coming with me!" Lucas said, as he pulled his fiancé in for yet another kiss._

"Okay Peyton, suuuure, Lindsay is secretly conspiring to break us up so she can have me all to herself. Okay. Now can we please stop talking about Lindsay, and start talking about my gorgeous," Lucas said, as he placed a kiss on her hand, "beautiful," he continued kissing her on her wrist," intelligent," as he kissed her neck, "successful and talented fiancé?" Lucas finished, finally placing a kiss on her lips.

"Lu-lukee, please, stopppp." Peyton said, not very convincingly.

"Well, Miss Sawyer, why would I want to stop?" Lucas asked, as he smirked in true Lucas Scott fashion.

"Becauseeeee, I don't want you to start something you can't stop, but, oh, Luc-," Peyton stopped as the door opened.

"Excuse me, I hate to barge in, but I need to change Miss Sawyer's IV drip, and then you may, continue." The nurse said, as Peyton pulled the covers over her head in sheer embarrassment, while Lucas cleared his throat and took his seat in the chair.

"Oh kids don't worry about it," the nurse said, who Lucas assumed to be in her late fifties, "trust me. That's not the first time I've walked in on couples, well…" as she saw the look on Lucas' face, she figured he knew what she meant.

"Alright Miss Sawyer, your good now for another fourteen hours, and remember stud," she said, while looking at Lucas, "Miss Sawyer here was just in a horrible accident. So… be easy with her." The nurse finished, as she winked at Lucas. Peyton just giggled while Lucas turned beet red.

"Well well 'stud', she told _you_ didn't she?" Peyton said, as she poked Lucas in the forearm.

"Humph." Lucas responded, not thrilled with what just happened.

"Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?" Lucas replied, nonchalantly.

"Remember before you came home I said there was something I needed to tell you? well, I kinda, sorta… " Peyton said, trying to get the words out. "might be pregnant. But I don't know now, after the accident and the surgeries and all the medicine and everything and I know it's early and we really hadn't talked about it and please don't hate me, I know that we're not even married yet but I don't know Luke, it just feels right but I mean it might have died during the accident and… oh my word Lucas what if I killed our child? And I mean I know it's really early and we're NOT prepared and I don't even know yet for sure, I just had a feeling and I'm late but I already want him or her so much and please don't be mad it's just, why are you looking at me like that?" Peyton finished her speech, as Lucas was looking at her with a grin on his face.

"You are" Lucas said, as he took her hand in his.

"I'm WHAT?" Peyton asked, making sure that she had heard right.

"You; Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, are pregnant. And no, you didn't kill the baby during the accident, and while the doctors were doing surgery they saw him or her, and he told me, and they've been adjusting your medicine. And no I'm not mad, and I don't hate you, and so what if it's early? I know I love you and that's all I really need to know," Lucas said as he stood up to kiss her "I love you, I love you Peyton."

"Wow. I mean, I think I knew all along, ya know? But it just feels so different to know." Peyton said, as she placed her hand over her stomach, something that did not go unnoticed by Lucas.

"Yeah, I know. But why didn't you tell me? You weren't sick or anything, and you PROMISED you would tell me everything that was going on!" Lucas questioned, remembering the pact that they made shortly after they got engaged. They had to tell each other everything.

"Well, I noticed I was late before you left, but then when it never happened and I started feeling sick, I got to thinking. So I called Haley and told her, so she went out and bought like a gazillion pregnancy tests and-,"

"You mean to tell me that Haley knows before I do?" Lucas interrupted, asking.

"You didn't let me finish!" Peyton spat out "so she came over and brought them, and I couldn't do it without you there, so she left. But I couldn't sit there starring at them, I needed to think. So I drove to the river court, and then, well, I think we both know what happened after that." Peyton said, while looking down at the floor.

"But hey, how did YOU know?" Peyton asked, suddenly realizing that he knew.

"The doctor told me." Lucas said "he stopped me out in the hallway a couple hours after your first surgery and told me. But I haven't told anyone Peyt, honest. I didn't know if you knew or not, and I knew that you had something to tell me and I didn't know if _that_ was it or not and yeah… here we are." Lucas said, as he started to rub her belly.

"Here we are," Peyton replied, placing her hand on top of his "all 3 of us. And we're going to get through this… on crutches and casts' and all." Peyton said.

-----------------------

**A/N; alright, I know everybody prolly saw it coming, but anyway. Also, I probably took Lucas a litttttle OOC when it came to his speech, but one of my best friends once told me that a little cheese is always needed, so I went WAY cheesy. Oh well.**

**Ya know the drill ; REViEW prettttty please! Also, are you liking all the flashbacks? Want more? Want less? Could care less? Please let me know, any &alllllll feedback is GREATLY appreciated. &if you would like to see a certain something happen, just LMK and I'll try &work it in.**

**Also, sorry for the lack of NH or BJ or 'other' people in this chapter, but I will make up for it later on, I promise!**

**Please Review!**

**Xoxo, Taylor**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N; oh my gosh. I am so sorry it has taken over 2 weeks to update! But, on may 31**__**st**__**, my grandmother died. I was EXTREMELY close to her, as her and my grandfather live beside us. It was completely the BIGGEST shock, of my life. I was out with my friends, eating supper, and my dad called me and told me I needed to get home NOW. So I took off, and when I got about 5 minutes from the house, he told me to go my grandparent's, so I said okay. when I pulled in, and saw that my grandmother's car wasn't there, and a sherrif's car was, I knew it was bad, really bad. So I basically COLLAPSED into my dad's arms when he met me at the gate, and I heard my papa say "she's gone" and I saw my mom crying and my papa crying nad my dad holding me &even the sherrif had a few tears. I have lost a lot of close people in my life, including my other grandmother, but this is honeslty the worst thing I have EVER experienced. But my friends have been ABSOLUTELY amazing, no matter when it is, if I need htem, they're there for me. Even at 3 in the morning when I wake up crying, when I need a hug, their just incredible. So this chapter goes out to my AMZING friends who have helped me SO much; Annie, Maygen, Danielle, Sheena, and Amy. Thank you guys SO much for all you've done.**_

_**And to those who reviewed, you know who you are. Thanks so much!**_

_2 days later…_

"I see you finally got rid of your husband." The same nurse from 2 days ago chuckled, as she entered the room and saw Peyton by herself.

"Yeah yeah, I was about to go stir crazy. Growing up as an only child, I'm used to my 'me' time, and every time I even flinched Lucas was asking me if was okay, or if I needed anything." Peyton replied, not correcting the fact that the nurse called Lucas her husband, after all, they were getting married in a couple months, and Peyton never tired of hearing people him her husband..

"_Lucas, babe, I appreciate you being here, like, 24 hours a day and all, but seriously. Go home. Shower. Check messages, get your laptop, and come back. I love you for being here, but, I like my ME time ya know." Peyton said, pleading with Lucas._

"_I know, but, I don't want to miss something! I mean, what if you like, your back itches and you can't reach it? Or if you feel the baby kick and I'm not here?" Lucas said, picking up her hand._

"_Luke. Honey, the baby is like a tadpole or something right now, he doesn't even have legs. And besides, see this little nifty invention?" Peyton said, picking up a back scratcher, "is amazing at scratching your back. And besides, Haley said she was going to come by after she picked up Jamie from school, so if you leave now, she'll be here in like 20 minutes, that will give me some alone time and then she'll still be here when you get back." Peyton said._

"_fiiiiiine. But. If anything happens, make sure you buzz for the nurse to come in here, and call my cell, and I'll be here in like 2 seconds flat. And don't go anywhere!" Lucas said, making sure he was understood._

"_Yeah, right, I'm going to get up and go to bush gardens just as SOON as you leave, since the broken leg and arm and ribs and every other broken bone or crushed organ isn't going to slow me down." Peyton said, while rolling her eyes._

"_Not funny." Lucas simply stated._

"_NOW LEAVE!" Peyton practically screamed._

"_You're going to be a great mom. You've got the 'strict mom' down pat already."_

"_HEY!" Peyton screeched, as she tried to find something to throw at him._

"_Okay, okay. I'll be back in a little while. I love you. And you," Lucas said, as he patted Peyton's stomach, "be good for your mom." Lucas said as he kissed her good-bye._

"_Love you too." Peyton responded as Lucas walked out the door, feeling a smile comes across her face as Lucas mentioned their unborn child._

She had had many different nurses, with day shifts and night shifts, but this nurse was her favorite. She always made cute remarks about how Lucas was always around, and she kept her mouth shut when people brought in other food, when Peyton was supposed to have strictly 'blah' food as Peyton called it, not the greasy cheeseburgers and milkshakes from Cookout that she had been 'craving'. Lucas was pretty strict with her at first about eating only healthy foods, but all Peyton would have to do is say 'the baby wants this' or 'the baby wants that' and Lucas was on it.. 'To help your body adjust to coping without your spleen, you need to eat these certain foods.' the nutritionist said, regarding the 'blah' food. Plus, she brought Peyton extra chocolate pudding. Now, the hospital food sucked royally, but the chocolate pudding was outstanding. And you better not even think about taking a bite of it either.

"You better be glad you woke up, let me tell you. That boy was going crazy without you. I'd come in and he'd be in the exact same spot as when I left. And I don't know how in the world he slept in that uncomfortable chair, but he managed somehow." The nurse said, recalling to coming in multiple times finding Lucas by her side, holding her hand, waiting for her to wake up.

"Awh, that's sweet. I guess you obviously know my name, but I feel kinda bad that I don't know yours..." Peyton said.

"it's Jessica," the nurse said, "and I guess you missed that day in school when they taught you to read..," Jessica said as she pointed to the whiteboard above her head, where in big red letters it wrote 'today your nurse is JESSICA.'

"Oh! Oopsie! Guess I totally missed that. Has that been there the WHOLE time?" Peyton said, as she felt completely dumb.

"Yupp!" the nurse said, as she chuckled

_Meanwhile, at Lucas' house_

'You have 23 new voicemail's the answering machine told Lucas, as he sighed out loud. Lucas laid down his coat, keys, and phone on the back of their leather sofa. 'first message, sent yesterday at 3:49 pm' the machine said, followed by "hey coach, it's Ryan, well the whole team really. I, FINE Jeremy I'll say the whole team! Gah, anyway, WE just wanted to say I hope Miss Sawyer feels better, and that practice went good today. Good grief, Coach Taylor and Nathan ran the freaking crap outta us. Anyway. Tell her to get better soon. See ya later-YES Jeremy I said WE! Bye!" Lucas just had to chuckle, as he could hear the whole team in the background telling him what to say.

'Next new message, sent yesterday at 5:35 pm' 'LUCAS! I don't' know what's going on, but, I need that last chapter YESTERDAY! I'm telling you Lucas, they're ready to cut this whole book.. I need that chapter." Lucas heard Lindsay's voice yelling into the machine. He also knew that the company loved him and his books, and they wouldn't cut the book. 'so much for attempting to scare me, Lindsay' Lucas muttered to himself, as he moved into the bedroom, while the messages kept playing.

'next new message, sent yesterday at 9:43 pm' Hey Peyton! it's Mia. SO, I know you're still in the hospital, and you won't get this message for a while… but maybe Lucas will tell you… why don't I just call your cell phone? Hmm. I don't know. Anyway, I'm still on tour and we just wanted to say hey and all… but I'm telling this to a machine, anyway, so , um, HI! Get better soon. Love ya chica!" Lucas just had to chuckle at Mia's message, as he gathered up his laptop and put it into his brief case.

_Back at the hospital_

"Alright Jimmy-Jam, now when we see aunt Peyton, she might be asleep, so we have to be quiet, okay?" Haley told her son, as they walked down the hallway.

"Alright mama." The 5 year old responded.

"Knock-knock!" the brunette called out as she opened the door. "We just thought we'd stop by and see-" Haley's sentence was cut short as she saw the empty bed. She turned around and checked the door to make sure she had the right room. "P. Sawyer, room 229" the door read.

"Where's aunt Peyton mama?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know honey, she is supposed to be here, and I know she hasn't been discharged yet, because she told me that they hadn't finished running tests' yet. Let me call uncle Lucas and find out where she is." Haley responded, as she pulled out her phone and held down the number 4 button. 'c'mon Lucas, answer your freaking phone!' Haley mumbled to herself, as the phone continued to ring and ring.

"Hi! You've reached Lucas Scott. I can't answer the phone right now, but if you'll leave your name, number, and a brief message I'll call you back as soon as I can. Thank you!' Haley heard Lucas' voicemail, and then she left her own message.

'Lucas, it's Haley. Look, I'm here at the hospital to see Peyton, and she isn't in her room, and I know you said for me to come by and keep her entertained while you ran home, sooooo.. where is she? Call me back asap, it's like she vanished from her bed." Haley said, as she hung up the phone. She immediately tried calling him back, but he still didn't answer.

Lucas was stepping out of the shower, freshly bathed and freshly shaven, when he heard his phone ringing. As he ran to catch his phone, he barely had time to wrap a towel around himself. After a little, 'misunderstanding' of Lucas thinking that Peyton was home alone, and he was going to 'surprise', her, when really Peyton and Nathan were talking over some drinks, Lucas ALWAYS grabbed a towel if he had to go out of the bedroom after a shower. Unfortunately, his phone had quit ringing by the time he got to the living room. He picked up his iPhone, and saw 12 missed calls, all from Haley. Immediately, his heart sunk. As he called her back, he started thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong. Peyton could have slipped back into a coma. Or something could have happened to the baby. Nobody else knew about it yet, Peyton wanted to wait until she was at home before they told everybody. Lucas was interrupted from his thoughts, as Haley screamed into the phone.

"LUCAS! Where the *heck have you been!?" Haley practically screamed at him.

"I was taking a-," as Lucas realized, it really didn't matter what he was doing; "it doesn't matter. What's wrong?" Lucas asked, with concern all over his voice.

"She's GONE!" Haley said, and then realized how that sounded. "Well, not dead gone, she's just, missing!"

"Wait! What do you mean, missing?" Lucas asked, still not fully understanding what was going on.

"I MEAN, I walk in the door, there's a bed, no Peyton!" Haley said, sarcastically. "She's not with you?" Haley asked.

"No! Peyton just sent me home to shower and get some stuff, and I was in the shower when you left me _49_ voicemails. And I didn't really want to come, but she refused to kiss me with my stubble and she said I stunk, so I just left like 20 minutes ago. Where could she go Hales?"

"Gee Luke, there's only so many places you can go with a broken freaking leg! Now get your scrawny as- butt over here and find your fiancé! I mean who knows?! For all we know, psycho stalker Derek-Ian could be back!" Haley said in desperation.

"Mama? Who's si-ko-walker Derek?" Jamie asked.

"Sweetie, he was a very mean man that tried to hurt aunt Peyton." Haley responded, as she heard Lucas sigh on the other end of the line.

"Oh, okay. Well if he tries to hurt her again, I'll punch him in the face!" Jamie said, as he made a fist out of his little hand.

"Ya year that Luke? Ya got another Scott boy ready to up to bat for Peyton" Haley said, in a different tone than she had used before. She always had a different tone of voice when she talked about Jamie. Lucas could only hope that Peyton would soon be able to have that, too.

"Alright Hales, I'm on my way now. Call Brooke and see if she knows where she is, and if she doesn't, then, just, call someone else. I'll be there in 10 minutes." Lucas said, as he pulled out into the highway in his vintage mustang.

"Okay, see ya in a few. Hey Luke?" Haley asked.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, we don't need both of ya'll in the hospital." Haley said, in her motherly tone.

"Yes ma'am, _mother._ Bye!" Lucas said, as he hung up.

As Haley hung up with Lucas, she immediately began to scroll through her contacts, and found who she was looking for. On the 5th ring, Brooke answered.

"Brooke? Where is Peyton?" Haley asked.

"Julian, hold onnnn!" Brooke giggled into the phone. "Haley? Peyton's in the hospital, where she should be, Julian! I said stoppppp!" Brooke continued to giggle into the phone.

"Oh no she's isn't!" Haley responded, trying to get the mental picture out of her mind, which was so clearly painted by Brooke's words, and the bits and pieces she could hear of Julian in the background.

"Julian, STOP!" Brooke said, this time with force. "What do you mean she's not in the hospital? Where is she?

"THAT'S WHAT I'm TRYING TO FIGURE OUT! Why else would I be asking YOU, which you're very clearly busy doing _other_ things, where she is! I came by to visit her while Luke ran home to shower and change, and when I got here, she wasn't here! And Luke doesn't know either." Haley said, as her very bored son started climbing on things.

"Jamie! You cannot climb on that tree! That's not a real tree!" Haley called out, as her son was very interested in climbing the fake tree in the hospital hallway. '_I swear I outta get a leash for that kid' _Haley mumbled to herself.

"Ohhh!" Brooke said, obviously shaken that her best friend is missing. "I'll be right over , and help you… look for her?" Brooke said, thinking to herself that it sounded like she was going to look for a lost kitten, not her best friend.

"Yeah, okay. I'm going to see if I can find a nurse or something…JAMIE!" Haley said, then having to call her son, again. "trust me, what you have on your head is NOT a helmet!" as she saw her son putting a, thankfully, un-used urinal on his head.

As Brooke hung up the phone, Julian could tell something was wrong. "What's wrong?

"She's missing." Brooke simply replied.

And with those two words said, Julian could only remember a special night he had shared with Peyton.

"_Hello?" Peyton said, as she answered her phone._

"_Hey Peyton, it's Julian. How are you?" Julian asked, _

"_I'm gooooood," Peyton drawled out, wondering why her best friend's boyfriend was calling her, instead of her best friend._

"_Oh well that's, good?" Julian asked, very nervously._

"_Are you okay?" Peyton asked._

"_Yeah, I'm fine. I got a question for ya." Julian said._

"_Alright, shoot." Peyton responded._

"_Well, I was wondering, if maybe, I could, er…, um… I can't do this over the phone. Can you meet me at fifth at Waterford? Do you know where it is?" Julian asked, and by now, Peyton knew he was up to something, or something was wrong._

"_Yeah, I know where it is. Beside of dockside, right? See you in, what, 10 minutes?" Peyton asked, as she grabbed her coat._

"_Yeah, okay, bye." Julian said, and hung up._

"_Where are you going?" Brooke said, "Off for a last minute drink with Lucas, maybe?" Brooke said, while wiggling her eyebrows._

"_No, it was ," Peyton almost said Julian, but the she changed her mind, thinking that if Julian had wanted Brooke to know he would have just called her. "just a guy from the studio, he has a couple more questions regarding the new tour for Paramore. So I'm just goanna grab a drink with him while we discuss it."Peyton said, hoping Brooke would believe her. _

"_Oh okay, have fun, don't get laid!" Brooke said, and then laughed._

"_Byeeeeeee!" Peyton called out, as she left._

_-------_

"_Julian? What is going on with you?" Peyton asked, as she took a seat beside of him at the bar._

"_Nothing!" Julian cried._

"_Okay then, what couldn't you ask me over the phone?" Peyton said, trying again._

"_You know I love Brooke, right? And I wouldn't hurt her for anything in the world, and that I just want her to be happy, right?" Julian asked._

"_Yes Julian, I know. What I DON'T know is why you made me come here just so you could tell me this…" Peyton said._

"_Well, I'm getting there. You're her only real family, and she loves you more than if you were her real sister, so I was wondering if maybe, I could," Julian stopped, took a breath, and thought to himself, 'it's just like ripping of a band aid, just DO IT!' Julian told himself. "I was wondering if I could have Brooke's hand In marriage?" Julian finally spit out!_

"_AHHHHH!" Peyton screamed, making everybody in the restaurant turn around and look at her. "OF COURSE YOU CAN MARRY HER! Are you kidding me? Y'all are meant to be! Yessss! Oh my gosh. Just please try to do a better job at proposing to her than you did asking me for her hand in marriage." Peyton said, while playfully slapping his shoulder. _

"_Aw, thanks Peyton. I just want her to be happy." Julian said, relieved that his future fiancé's best friend was okay with it all. "I have to fly to Las Vegas for the week to get some filming done for the movie, and she's flying out there on Friday so we can spend the weekend together. I was thinking of asking her then." Julian said, as he the butterfly's in his stomach took flight again._

"_Are you kidding me? I have to spend ALL week with her, and I have to keep this a secret?" Peyton said, realizing that she would have a hard time keeping THIS under the blankets._

"_Yes! And I swear if you let it slip Peyton Scott-Sawyer, oh *heck I don't know what your last name is, but you BETTER keep this a secret!" Julian said._

"_Fine, I'll figure out something. But Aw, Julian, I'm so happy for you, and her, and oh my gosh my best friend is going to get MARRIED!" Peyton screeched, as she got up to hug him._

"_Thanks Peyton" Julian said, and Peyton could see the happiness in his eyes._

_--------_

"Julian? Julian? JULIAN!" Brooke had to end up screaming at Julian to get his attention.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah?" Julian replied, snapping out of his daydream.

"Earth to Julian…, anyway, as I was saying _earlier_, I'm leaving now, I'll call and let you know what's going on." Brooke said, as she gathered up her keys.

"Okay, and when you get back, we can continue," Julian said, as he leaned in for a kiss, which Brooke immediately deepened, "this." Julian continued, once they broke apart, only for the lack of oxygen.

---------

As Lucas ran into the hospital lobby, he could only think that it wasn't too long ago he was doing the same time. Except this time, he knew Peyton was OK, he just didn't know where she was.

"Excuse me, my sister came here earlier to visit with my fiancé, and she wasn't in her room, and she can't find her…" Lucas said, while standing at the nurses' station.

"Name?" the nurse who was in front of a computer said.

"Lucas Scott." Lucas replied.

"No, I mean the _patient's _name." the nurse replied, with venom practically dripping off her tounge.

"Peyton Sawyer." Lucas said, quite embarrassed that he made that silly mistake. He honestly didn't care though; he just wanted to find his fiancé.

"Peyton, Sawyer" the nurse repeated, as she typed her name into the computers. "Looks like she was taken down to x-ray about 30 minute's ago." the nurse said, as she looked up to look at Lucas.

"X-ray?" Lucas repeated.

"Yeah, apparently the doctor wanted another picture of her leg to make sure it was set correctly in the cast. She should be through now, since it she was sent down 45 minutes ago.

"Forty Five minutes ago, hale called 40, it's been 35 min," Lucas mumbled

"Excuse me?" the nurse called out.

"Huh?" Lucas replied.

"Were you trying to say something?" the nurse said.

"Oh, no. thanks for your help!" Lucas said, as he turned and walked off, heading towards the elevator.

As Lucas stepped off the elevator, and turned to walk towards Peyton's room, he was met in the hall by Peyton in her bed and 2 men on either side of her, pushing her bed through the hallway.

"PEYTON!" Lucas cried out, as he ran to meet her.

"Yeah?" Peyton replied, unsure of why worry was all over Lucas' face.

"You're not missing anymore!" Lucas said, as he grabbed her hand, and intertwined their fingers

"I was never missing…" Peyton responded, not sure what he meant.

"Well Haley got here like 45 minutes ago, and you weren't in your room, and nobody knew where you were!" Lucas said, as Peyton began to understand.

"She didn't see the note?" Peyton asked.

"What note?"

"The note that I left on my bed just in case anybody came to see me…" Peyton said, as she was transferred from the gurney to her regular hospital bed.

"See? This one right here." Peyton said, as she handed Lucas the note that read, '_gone to get an x-ray, be back soon. Xoxo, P'_

Lucas was about to make some smart comment about Haley not seeing it, but as he looked down, he could see how tired Peyton was, so he decided that he'd just kill Haley later.

"Aw, honey, I'm sorry that you were worried!" Peyton said, when she saw Lucas taking a few deep breathes, trying to calm himself.

"Hey hey, no, it's fine. Trust me. I'm just glad we're both here now. You look tired, why don't you take a nap while I go and kill Haley?" Lucas said, as he rubbed Peyton's knuckle's with his thumb.

"Mhmmm, that sounds nice. Just, stay with me a few more minutes, please?" Peyton asked, giving him her 'puppy dog' look.

"Sure. Now just try to get some rest, okay?" Lucas complied with her request, and stayed with her as she drifted off to sleep.

**A/N; there it is! I PROMISE the next chapter will be up very soon. Please review (:**

**xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N; alrightey guys! I'm back! Lol. Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed! Your kind words meant so much to me, and I do appreciate all of them. So thank you. This is about a week later than I planned, and I apologize. But, it's SUMMER! Before my senior year, too, so honey, I'm making the most of it. Plus, I have the most kick-$$ tan EVER. Gotta love jetski's and houses on the lake (: SO. I'm just redicly in love with the fact that it's SUMMMMEEERRRRR! Hope y'alls is going good!**

"HALEY JAMES!" Lucas boomed out, as he saw her in the cafeteria.

"Yessssss? And don't you mean Scott?" Haley responded.

"Are. You. Freaking. BLIND?" Lucas asked, pausing after each word for emphasis.

"What?"

"THE NOTE!" Lucas said, while holding it up. "Peyton left a NOTE, in case somebody stopped by. How did you not see it?

"Ohhhh, I guess I didn't see it. I'm sorry Lucas, If I had seen it, then you wouldn't have had a freaking heart attack…" Haley said, realizing what she had, or really hadn't, done.

"Oh it's okay Haley, I really didn't see it either." Lucas said, as he pulled his best friend in for a hug.

"So when does Peyton get to come home? Haley asked.

"They're thinking tomorrow, she is ready to get out of here." Lucas said.

"Oh I bet she is!" Haley responded, while Lucas just nodded.

"Well Nathan is coming in for the weekend tonight, and Jamie is going over to Andre's for the night, and Nathan got reservations for us at Waterford's, so I better get going.

"Oh really?" Lucas asked, raising an eyebrow... "Bow chica bow wow" Lucas said, smirking.

"Hmm." Haley said, avoiding Lucas' eyes.

"Oh my word! You are so getting laid tonight!" Lucas said, shrieking like a little girl.

"Lucas! I'm married!" Haley said.

"Hey," Lucas said, raising his hands up in surrender. "At least somebody can." Lucas mumbled to himself.

"Yeahhh, that cast gets in the way, doesn't it?" Haley asked, recalling her senior year, after being hit by a car, and being stuck in a cast for 8 weeks.

"You heard that?" Lucas asked, as his cheeks became redder than Christmas lights.

"Lucas, I've known you literally FOREVER, I don't have to hear everything you say to know what you're trying to say." Haley said, as she looped her arm around Lucas' waist.

"Hmm. I better get back up to Peyton, thanks for stopping by today," Lucas said, as he pulled his best friend in for a hug. "And have fun tonight" Lucas finished, as he wriggled his eyebrows.

"Oh you're welcome, and you know I will!" Haley said, in a seductive tone.

"Ewww! Whatever. Bye Hales!" Lucas said, as he turned to head to the elevator.

"Bye Lucas!" Haley said, as she headed out the door.

----------------

"So, you're sure you comfortable?!" Lucas asked.

"Yes, Lucas, I'm fine!" Peyton said, becoming agitated with Lucas, as every single time Peyton moved, he was asking her if she was okay, or if she needed something, or if she was comfortable.

"Okay, okay!" Lucas replied, as he raised his hands in surrender. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I know, and that's what I love about you."

And the truth is, she really did love it.

Every time they went anywhere, weather it was to go get groceries our eating at the oceanic, he was always opening her car doors, and helping her into her seat. And when the maitre d' would take too long helping her, or when the waiters would be just a little too nice to her, and she could see the jealousy in Lucas' eyes, she fell in love with him even more.

Or just the little things Lucas would do. When he would go out for a run in the morning, he would fix her coffee and put it in a thermos and sit it beside her side of the bed, so when she woke up she would have her coffee.

"Luke, I was thinking…" Peyton said.

"Yeah?" Lucas said, turning all his attention to her.

"Can we wait until I'm out of here before we tell everybody? About, ya know, him." Peyton said, as she placed her hand on her still flat stomach.

"Sure, that's fine. Just tell me when though, and I'll be shouting it on the rooftops, okay?" Lucas says, then adds, "or her."

"Huh?" Peyton asks.

"You said, 'about _him'._ It could be a _her, _too, ya know." Lucas says, and can't stop the enormously large grin from coming across his face.

"So have you done the math yet?" Peyton asked, as she intertwined Lucas' and hers fingers.

And Lucas didn't even have to ask what she meant.

Lucas looked up, and the icy blue met the emerald green.

And at the same time, they both said it. "Charlotte."

--------------

"_Peyt? Honey, we better get going if we're going to meet Jamie and Haley before the game." Lucas shouted up the stairs to Peyton, who was still getting ready._

'_Good grief, it's just a basketball game, how long can she take?' Lucas thought to himself, as he sat back down on the couch._

"_Okay Luke, I'm ready" Peyton said, as she walked down the stairs._

"_Well it's about ti-"Lucas stopped mid-sentence, as his eyes found his fiancé. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, putting her scarf on. She was wearing his favorite pair of dark jeans that were tucked inside of her brown leather boots, with a green top that hung on her body in all the right places, and had a cream pea-coat for the chilly weather that would be in charlotte once the sun had set._

"_You, look…" Lucas tried to find the right word, but couldn't exactly find it. _

"_incredible doesn't even begin to cover it" Lucas growled in her ear, as he snaked his arms around her body. _

"_Well. You don't look so bad yourself," Peyton said, as she eyed her fiancé. He was wearing charcoal pants and a baby blue button-down shirt._

"_Here's my bag." Peyton stated, as she handed it to Lucas._

"_Ughhhh!" Lucas sighed, as he threw his head back. He knew this was Peyton's way of stopping something they really shouldn't start._

"_Now go! Remember we have to meet Haley and Jamie before the game, and I don't want to miss kick off!" Peyton said, swatting Lucas' butt._

"_It's tip off!" Lucas said, walking out the door._

"_What?" Peyton responded, completely clueless to what Lucas was saying._

"_Never mind, let's just hit the road." Lucas said, once their bags were in his Yukon Denali. Lucas and Peyton still had their vintage cars, and Peyton had bought him a BMW Z4 roadster for his 25__th__ birthday, but his publishing company gave him a Yukon, and who's going to turn down a free car? _

_-------------_

_Once Lucas and Peyton pulled into the Time Warner Cable Arena parking lot, and showed their parking passes, Lucas couldn't help but admire the view as Peyton walked in front of him._

"_LUCAS!" Peyton said, as she turned around._

"_What?!" Lucas responded, trying to sound innocent._

"_If you don't get your *butt up here right now," Peyton said as she stopped to wait for him, "I'll take you right here in this parking lot." Peyton growled in his ear as he caught up with her._

"_We have to get the tickets…" Lucas said, giving her a taste of her own medicine, from earlier at the house, as they walked into the arena and headed for will call._

"_You suck, you know that?" Peyton said, as she stuck her tongue out at him._

"_2 tickets for Lucas Scott" Lucas told the lady at the will call window._

"_Enjoy the game." The lady said, as she handed the tickets to Lucas with no emotion at all._

"_But you love me." Lucas said, taking Peyton's smaller hand into his larger hand, getting onto the elevator._

"_Yeah yeah" Peyton responded, rolling her eyes at him._

"_Hey Haley! Hey jimmy-Jam!" Peyton called out, as she saw Jamie and Haley once she stepped off the elevator._

"_Hey guys! I'm glad you found it!" Haley said, as she hugged her 2 best friends._

"_Found it?" Lucas asked Haley_

"_Yeah, you know, the arena and all" Haley said as she gestured around her with her hands_

"_Hales, it's like, one of the biggest things in charlotte, I mean, even *I*could find it." Peyton said._

"_Well, you know me. I'm like, directionally challenged or something!"_

"_Uncle Lucasssssssss lets goooooooooo!" Jamie called out, as he grabbed his uncle's hand, and pulled him toward their suites._

"_Alright alright... the game's about to start anyway." Lucas said as he ushered Peyton through the door._

_The game went well. The bobcats lead the whole game, and Nathan made the last shot at the end of the game, so the final score was 109 bobcats, 98 heat. Haley had taken Jamie back to the hotel where his babysitter met them, so Nathan and Haley and Lucas and Peyton could go out for drinks afterwards._

"_Hey Peyt? Your usual?" Nathan asked as the gang walked into Revolutions, the hottest bar in charlotte._

"_Yeah that'd be great." Peyton replied, as she and Haley grabbed a table._

"_Don't worry about me, you know, you're actual WIFE, I'll be just fine" Haley said, as she glared at Nathan._

"_Oh honey, I don't even have to ask. I always know what you want." Nathan replied, as he winked._

"_Nice save" Haley replied, under her breathe. "I'm going to run freshen up right quick, while Nathan gets the drinks and Lucas parks, 'kay?" Haley asked_

"_Okay that's fine, Lucas should be in here in just a sec anyway" Peyton said._

"_Ohhhh girl you are TOTALLY fine!" some sleazy guy said a few minutes later._

"_I am totally TAKEN" Peyton said, in utter disgust, as she raised her left hand showing her diamond ring._

"_Not for long" the guy replied huskily, as he grabbed her arm._

"_Hey! Let go of me!" Peyton cried, as she tried to snatch her arm back, but with no avail._

"_I think you, pretty lady, are coming with me." The guy said, as he went to pull Peyton up._

"_I said let GO of me, you douche bag!" Peyton said, as most of the bar was now looking on at this situation that was arising._

"_what did you call me? You, *itch, are coming with me" the guy growled out, as he straightened up to his full 6'2" height, showing Peyton that he was bigger than she was, and snatching her harder in the direction of the door_

'_Lucas, where are you?' Peyton said to herself, suddenly becoming afraid, as she realized this guy wasn't going to be buzzing off._

"_I think my friends and I are going to have fun with-"his sentence was cut short as he was thrown up against the nearest wall._

"_WHAT did you call her?" Lucas screamed, as he threw a punch into the guys face._

"_I just thought-hey, it's chill..." the guy stammered out._

"_First off, no, you obviously DIDN'T think, and second, it's NOT chill. You do not mess with any girl, especially MY girl!" Lucas said, as he continued to hold him up by the lapels of his shirt._

"_What happened?" Nathan asked Haley, as he walked up with the drinks_

"_I don't know! I was walking out of the bathroom and I heard Peyton shout 'let go of me!' and by the time I got here Lucas was punching this dick" Haley responded._

_Lucas was ready to give that guy another round of punches, but when he saw Peyton trembling in the corner of the booth, he threw the guy down and muttered something to him under his breath, and ran over to Peyton._

"_Peyton, baby, are you okay?" Lucas asked, as he took a shaking Peyton into his arms_

"_He, he gr-grabbed me and, and, and, he was trying to ta-take me" Peyton stumbled out, clearly shaken up by the whole experience._

"_Here, c'mere, I gotcha" Lucas said, as he stroked the back of her hair, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "Shhh, it's okay." Lucas said, trying to reassure her._

"_The bouncers just threw that dick and his group of friends' outta here" Nathan stated, as he wrapped his arm around Haley protectively._

"_Hey Luke?" Peyton asked, looking up at Lucas._

"_Yeah?" Lucas asked, picking up Peyton's hand and kissing her knuckles_

"_Could we just go back to the suite and, just, relax a little?" _

"_Sure thing, Peyt." Lucas said, standing up and helping her up. "I guess we'll see you guys later, in that case" Lucas said, as he helped Peyton with her coat._

"_Okay, I'm back in town next week, maybe we can try this again then?" Nathan said._

"_Yeah, that sounds great. I'm sorry, I really don't mean to bail on ya, I know you got a babysitter and all …" Peyton said, hugging Haley._

"_Hey, girly, don't worry about it it all. I'm so sorry this happened to you, if I hadn't have gone to the bathroom I would have been here to help you!" Haley said, as tears tickled her eyes._

"_Oh no Hales, this is not your fault." Lucas said, hugging his best friend good-bye. "Hey little brother, can you do something for me?"_

"_Sure thing, bro. whatcha need?" Nathan asked, as he cracked his knuckles. If Lucas wanted him to punch somebody, he was going to be ready._

"_Beat the living crap outta the LA Lakers, this weekend, okay?" Lucas said with a chuckle._

"_You got it." Nathan said, laughing. "Alright Sawyer, you sure you're okay?"_

"_Yeah, I'll be fine. We'll see you guys later!" Peyton said, as her and Lucas walked out of the door._

_-----------_

"_Can I get you anything Peyt?" Lucas asked, as he held the door open to their hotel suite for Peyton to go in._

"_Well, I'm going to take a hot bubble bath, but after that, I was thinking maybe we could do a little of this," Peyton whispered in his ear, and placed a kiss on his neck. Lucas immediately gasped for breathe, as Peyton pulled away. _

"_Mmm, I'm beginning to like this 'relaxing' thing," Lucas said, as he pulled Peyton in for one more kiss._

"_Oh please" Peyton said, while rolling her eyes, as she walked away, with Lucas' hand falling across her stomach._

"_Hey Luke? I love you, you know that, right?" Peyton called out, standing at the door to the bathroom._

"_Yeah blondie, I know. And I love you too." Lucas said, and winked, as he flopped down on the bed, after removing his shirt._

"_Good" Peyton said, as she slipped in the bathroom, with a smirk on her face._

_--------------_

"You know, besides of high school psycho Derek, that was one of the scariest nights of my life. But it turned out to be fantastic, didn't it _daddy_?" Peyton said, emphasizing the word daddy, as she leaned back onto the hospital bed.

"Yes it did, didn't it?" Lucas said, as he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Mmm, I missed that." Peyton said, with her eyes closed.

"Well did you miss this?" Lucas asked, as he placed another kiss on her other cheek.

"Ohhhhh myyyyyy, yes" Peyton said, grabbing onto Lucas' lapels to pull him in.

"Hey buddy what's- OH MY EYES!" Brooke said, as she walked in the door and saw what was happening, or about to happen, on the bed.

"Brooke! What great timing you have!" Lucas said, sarcastically, as he got back in his chair.

"Whatever broody," Brooke said, as she brushed by Lucas. "How's my best friend doing today?"

"Well, I'm about the same as last time you asked, 20 minutes ago on the phone." Peyton said, with a frown on her face, but her eyes said that she was glad to see her.

"Okay broody, time for you to go coach your basketball team or work out or write another beastly novel or whatever it is you do, P. Sawyer has to help me with my wedding, and you can't be here." Brooke said, as she dropped the 3 bags and 2 notebooks onto the floor, and flopped down in the nearest chair.

"Oh really?" Lucas said, as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Now SCOOT!" Brooke said, flailing her arms around for effect.

"Hmm, well I guess Miss Davis- "

"Soon to be BAKER" Brooke cut in,

"Yes, miss Davis SOON TO BE BAKER, always gets what she wants. I do need to run to my office right quick, so I'll see you girls later." Lucas said, as he leaned down to kiss Peyton goodbye.

After Peyton deepened, or attempted to deepen the kiss, Brooke cut in.

"Hey! Hey! Keep it PG!" Brooke cried out.

"You, telling US, to keep it PG?" Peyton asked her friend skeptically.

"Well, you know. If you two get going, there's no stopping it, and I REALLY need some help here!" Brooke said.

"I'll see you later miss Sawyer, soon to be Scott." Lucas said, as he winked, and headed out the door.

"So what is so important that I have to help with Brooke?" Peyton asked Brooke, with a look of annoyance on her face.

"Oh, nothing too important for my wedding. But what are you going to do about yours?" Brooke asked.

"Mine? What's wrong with mine?" Peyton asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Well you know, with your, condition, and all" Brooke says, slowly and delicately, as she looks at the floor.

"My condition? Who told you?"

"P., honey, nobody told me, I can look at you and tell." Brooke says, taking Peyton's hand and holding it.

"Oh, am I that obvious?" Peyton said. She had heard, and seen pregnant ladies when they were 'glowing' but she didn't think she was that obvious.

"Babe, it's kinda hard to notice your lack of hair." Brooke said delicately, afraid that Peyton might blow up any second.

Once Brooke said that, Peyton let out a huge sigh of relief. It's not that Peyton didn't want to tell her, after all, she was her best friend, but she really wanted Lucas there with her when they told everybody.

"Well," Peyton begun, "Lucas said he didn't have a problem with it, and I don't so hey! One less thing we have to worry about on my wedding day." Peyton said with a shrug of her shoulder.

'Yeah, but this baby bump might be a slight problem' Peyton thought to herself.

"Oh goody! I was afraid of how that might go." Brooke cheerfully replied.

"Afraid? What were you afraid of?" Peyton asked.

"well, I was afraid you would get all Cosmo girl and not want to get married when you didn't have hair, so then you would have pushed back your wedding like a billion years and then you and Lucas might have a fight and call it off and then I wouldn't' have any God children named after me!" Brooke cried, becoming louder with everything she said, until she was almost squealing.

"Brooke, honey, all of this and you're worried about my children named after you?" Peyton asked, with a look of amusement on her face.

"Well, kinda not really though. But hey, you're Lucas and freaking Peyton! Nothing comes between y'all, not even that slutty, whore-ey, hoe, skank of an editor he has." Brooke said, using her arms for effects.

"Brooke…." Peyton said.

"Peyton! Seriously! I've never seen a chick flirt with a guy MORE!" Brooke cried out.

"I know, but hey. Look who's got the ring?" Peyton said, mischievously, as she raised her left hand.

"dang straight!" Brooke said. "Now, which frames do you like better for the table numbers? I was thinking these with the silver but…"

------------

Lucas was rummaging through his desk, when he heard his name called out.

"Hey coach!" Ryan, a rising junior on the team, with a tremendous amount of potential, said.

"Oh, hey Ryan." Lucas said, taking a seat.

"How's Miss Sawyer doing?" Ryan asked, as he took a step inside of his coach's office.

"She's doing great, actually. They both are. She's supposed to come home tomorrow if everything goes okay tonight." Lucas said, not even catching himself before he said 'they'. Peyton would kill him if the first person to know about the baby was a kid on his basketball team. But Ryan's greatest strengths were in basketball, not social skills, Lucas reasoned to himself.

"Oh that's great. So when are you going to come back? Coach Taylor and coach Gibbons are running us to death!" Ryan said, as he sighed.

"I'm not sure actually, probably the beginning of next week. So only a few more practices with them. I appreciate you stopping in and asking about Peyton, but I need to get a few things and then head back to the hospital, so I guess I'll see you next week?" Lucas said, trying to usher the boy out of his office.

"Yes sir, you will. Take care!" Ryan said, as he walked out of the office.

----------

"Good afternoon, Peyton!" Jessica, Peyton's nurse, said as she walked in the door.

"Oh, hey! How are you?" Peyton replied.

"I'm great! I see you've had your share of visitors today; I hope you've been getting your rest…" Jessica said, skeptically.

"Yes, Miss Jessica," Peyton said, while giggling.

"Good. I just need to check your stitches, and as long as your vitals and everything stays stable through the night, you'll be able to throw ya out tomorrow!" Jessica said, as she put on the sterile gloves to examine Peyton's cuts and stitches and all.

"Oh, great! I haven't seen the outdoors in the past, I-don't-know-how-many days! The sun does still shine, doesn't it?" Peyton asked, and tried to hide the laughter about to roar out of her throat.

"Yes, yes it does" Jessica said, joining in the laughter that had escaped from Peyton's mouth.

"So do you have any plans for this weekend?" Peyton asked, trying to keep her mind off of the pain that was coming from Jessica picking and probing at her cuts.

"Yes, I do actually! My granddaughter is coming to spend the weekend with me, and I'm really excited to see her. I declare, every time I see her, she has grown another foot!" Jessica said, with a shake of her head.

"Awh, that's sweet. She's a very lucky girl to have you as her grandmother. How old is she?"

"Annie, that's her name, is 5. Her birthday was last month, and her party was adorable. She just adores Mia Catalano, and she wanted a Mia party. The poor thing, she threw a fit when we went to a party store and they didn't have Mia plates, so we just made our own. Thank goodness for Google images!" Jessica said with a laugh.

"Really? Well, I'll have to get your address; I have something that she might enjoy." Peyton said, with a smirk.

"Awh, that's sweet of you. Well, looks like everything looks fine, the red-ness from your head cut has gone down, so any fear of infection is gone now. Looks good kiddo!" Jessica said, as she took off her gloves.

"Oh, that's great. OH, now THAT is great!" Peyton said, enthusiastically.

"What?" Jessica asked, but as she turned and saw Lucas walking in with a bag of French fries from French's, a pizza from Chubby's, and a milkshake from Cook-out.

"Ya'll kids have fun now" Jessica said, as she walked out of the room.

"What is all of this?" Peyton asked, as she dug into the French fries.

"Well, you couldn't go out, so I just brought your favorites in. I know we always celebrate today, no matter where we are, so… I thought this would have to do." Lucas said, as he took his hands into her.

"Today? What's so special about today?" Peyton asked, completely clueless.

"Honey, today's our 6th year anniversary. Well, not our technical one, but for the first time we met..." Lucas said, and Peyton could see the hurt in his eyes.

"Oh. Where did we first meet?" Peyton asked, and cocked her head to the side.

"By the river, remember, your comet broke down and I came and towed you in. remember the first thing I said to you?" Lucas said, with a smirk, as he remembered himself.

"Hi, my name is Lucas Scott?" Peyton tried, but as soon as she said it, she realized that it wasn't right.

"Peyton, baby, are you okay?" Lucas asked, all of a sudden becoming consumed with worry. "You don't' remember?"

"I'm sorry; I guess I just don't…" Peyton said, as she looked down. She couldn't meet his eyes, for the pain in his eyes was too much for her to see.

"Okay, then, what do you first remember about us?" Lucas asked, taking a deep breath, to keep from exploding.

"Well, I guess… hmm. Just, you being around, at school and all, and you on the basketball team and just, I don't know really." Peyton said, finally being able to look him in the eye. "I have a question." Peyton continued.

"Okay, go ahead."

"Okay, now my dad is on a boat somewhere in Alaska, and your mom has been by, and all of our other family and friends, but where is MY mom?"

**A/N; ohhh! Cliff-hanger! The more reviews I get, the quicker the other chapter comes up, &maybe we'll see what's going on… [I know, I'm mean! Haha sorry.] **

**REVIEW!**

**XOXO**


	7. Chapter 7

"Your mom?" Lucas asked, as it felt like his chest was hit by a ton of bricks.

"Yeah, I was wondering why she hadn't come by…" Peyton said.

Lucas knew he had to handle this gingerly. It was going to be hard, no matter who you had to tell, that their mother was dead. Especially since this person was a pregnant, hormonal person. And let's not forget that this person has suddenly forgotten some of the most important moments in her life.

"Peyt, honey, your mother died, when you were eight." Lucas was going to ad, 'don't you remember?' but he figured that was pretty stupid, because she wouldn't be asking if she knew.

"Oh." Peyton simply said, and it killed Lucas to see the hurt and pain wash over her. "Wh-what happened?"

"She ran a red light, because she was late picking you up from cheerleading practice, and she was hit head on. She died instantly." After that, Lucas felt he really didn't need share any more information.

And Peyton had never been so glad that they could share information without saying anything, and as Lucas locked eyes with Peyton, he immediately knew what she needed. He sprung up out of his chair and held onto her, as she collapsed into his arms and broke down. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, as Lucas comforted Peyton while she grieved the death of her mother, again.

"Why don't I remember?" Peyton asked, as she looked up at Lucas.

"I don't know babe. They told me while you were unconscious that there was a chance when you woke up that you could have a case of amnesia, but once you woke up and knew everybody, they dismissed the thought. But, I mean, something could be wrong now, since you forgot our anniversary, and now your mother… I'll go tell the doctor." Lucas said, as he got up to go to the door.

"Wait! Luke, come here" Peyton wailed, as she reached out for him.

"Okay… are you sure you're alright blondie?" Lucas asked, as Peyton pulled him in for a hug.

"Yeah," Peyton answered, too quickly. "Maybe, I don't know, sorta, not really, no."

"C'mere. What's bothering you?"

"I'm afraid that if you leave when you come back I won't remember you" Peyton said, quickly, all in one breathe.

"Aww, Peyton, honey, you won't forget me, I promise."

"And how do you know that?"

"Cause, I'm right here," Lucas said, as he placed his hand over her heart, "with you, forever. Got it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sorry" Peyton apologized, as she closed her eyes, and willed the tears not to fall.

"Hey hey now, don't you apologize for anything!" Lucas said, as they both shared a smile, and Lucas placed a kiss on top of her head. "Stay here, I'll be RIGHT back"

"Alright" Peyton said, in her deep southern drawl, as Lucas shot her a wink from the doorway.

--------------

"Honeeeeeyyyyy! I'm HOOOOOOMEEEE!" Nathan shouted through the doorway.

"In here!" Haley called out from their laundry room.

"Whoa, I need to come home more often if you do laundry like _this_ all the time!" Nathan stated, as he eyed his wife up and down, as she was wearing a blue bikini that he distinctly remembers buying when they were in St. Lucia, for their anniversary last year.

"Easy fella, your 6 year old son and babysitter's just in the other room, thank you very much." Haley said, as she noticed Nathan's eyes. She figured this wouldn't lead anywhere good unless she changed the subject, so that's what she did. "Have you talked to Lucas today?"

"No, I haven't. I had practice this morning, took a shower, and came here. Why, is something wrong?"

"No, I was just asking. I think she's actually supposed to come home tomorrow. I know Lucas is so ready for her to be home, and I know she'll be ready to get out of there." Haley said, as she jumped up on the counter.

"Well that's good."

"Hello?" Haley said, as she picked up the phone, "Oh, hey Brooke! Oh, um, yeah, tonight! Oh, no, of course I didn't forget, no, no, that sounds fine. Okay, yeah, I'll see you at seven." Haley said, as Nathan chuckled to himself.

"WHAT?" Haley said, as she glared at him.

"Nothing… it's just, did Haley James Scott forget a dinner appointment tonight?" Nathan said, as he snaked his arms around her waist.

"Wellllllll…." Haley drawled out, "we're meeting Brooke and Julian for dinner at 7, apparently."

"Ahhh. Well I'm going to go for a run, then shower and go see Peyton. I haven't seen her in a few days and, do you just want to meet me there?"

"Yeah babe that sounds fine. I've got to go talk to the caterers, and get the stuff for the party later on."

"What party?"

"Oh, Lucas is planning just a small thing at his house the day Peyton comes home. Just something for us, Brooke and Julian, and Karen"

"Ohhhh okay. Well I better run, see you later babe." Nathan said, as he walked out the door.

----------

"So what seems to be the problem here Miss Sawyer?" the doctor asked, as he picked up her medical chart.

"I can't remember stuff." Peyton bluntly replied.

"Well, she just can't remember, specific, important things" Lucas clarified.

"Like what?" the doctor said, after making notes in her chart.

"Well, she forgot our 7th year anniversary of when we first met, and she's always, _always_ remembered that. And, she also forgot that her mother was dead." Lucas answered, after Peyton gave him a look saying she couldn't admit that she forgot those important moments in her life.

"_Hey boyfriend!" Peyton answered her phone very cheerfully._

"_Heyyyy! How are you?" Lucas replied._

"_Lonely, but happy that my wonderful boyfriend will be in here 8 days to celebrate our anniversary! So what's up? How did your meeting go?"_

"_Well, that's what I'm calling about…" Lucas said, not having the heart to finish the sentence._

"_Luke, what's wrong? Did they cancel the tour or something?" Peyton asked worriedly._

"_No, no, it's, it's most definitely still on. In fact, they added a few more spots, so I have to leave earlier."_

"_Oh Luke! That's great! Where else are you going?"_

"_Well, they actually made it an international tour. But since it's my first book, we're just hitting England."_

"_Oh Lucas! That's great! I'm so proud of you baby! But you aren't acting as excited as I am…" Peyton stated, noticing that Lucas wasn't as excited as he normally, or should have been._

"_Well, you know how I said they moved it up? Well, I leave in 4 days. And I'll be gone for the 18th. I'm so sorry Peyton, I really am."_

"_Oh, I see. It's fine, I understand. But England Luke! Wow! That's amazing!"_

"_You know what else is amazing?" Lucas asked, in complete bewilderment._

"_What?"_

"_You are. I just throw on you, that I'm going to have to miss our week long private vacation. Miss our anniversary and you're taking it all in stride." Lucas said, with complete adoration in his voice._

"_Awh, that's sweet Luke! But, I do happen to know that you'll be making it up to me, riiiiight?" Peyton asked in the tone of voice she knew drove him crazy._

"_Oh you better believe it."_

"I see. And is that all you forgot?"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT I FORGOT?!" Peyton nearly screamed.

"Ahh, that's true. Let me just ask you a few questions, okay?" the doctor asked, after realizing what a stupid question he asked.

"What's the date?"

"Thursday the 23rd, 2008."

"And what state are we in?"

"North Carolina."

"And who is the president of the United States?"

"George Bush"

"And where are you?"

"The hospital…"

"Okay. Well it sounds like to me, from the extent of your injury, and how you haven't had any mind problems until now, and your memory is so selective, that it could possibly be something in your head pressing against your brain, reducing the blood flow, thus why you can't remember certain things. We'll need to get an MRI done stat to see what's going on." The doctor said, as Peyton's breathe caught in her throat, and Lucas instinctively reached for her hand.

"Wait. MRI? Aren't those harmful to the baby?" Lucas asked

"Well, they are, but since we have the new MRI machine where you can simply put the magnet over the body part you need, and since it's just her head, we'll be able to cover the rest of her body with protection, and it'll be fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go order the MRI."

"Okay, thank you doctor." Lucas said for Peyton, as she began sobbing into his arms.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay Peyton. They'll find what's going on and we'll be able to fix it." Lucas said, trying to convince Peyton and himself.

"I, I just thought that maybe I'd have a concussion or something, not something in my head! And now," Peyton's voice trailed off, as she began to sob again.

"I know baby, I know. But just think about it. Who else is better at going through hard stuff than us? We've gone through two mothers, fake brother, real brother, school shooting, I mean, it's like it was bound to happen!"

"That's true.." Peyton said, with a smile.

"There's that smile I love so much." Lucas said, as he tapped her nose with his index finger. "I'm going to call Brooke."

"No! Don't tell her!" Peyton exclaimed.

"Why not? I know she'd want to be here with you…"

"I know, but she finally believes that I'm going to be okay, and she's so happy about our wedding and hers, and I just don't want to put a burden to that." Peyton said, as she recalled Brooke's visits to the hospital, all excited about their 'double weddings', as Brooke called it.

"Okay, okay. How about I just stay here with you instead?" Lucas asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"I think we'd like that." Peyton said, smiling at the thought of her baby.

---------

"JULIAN!" Brooke hollered out, for the 5th time that morning.

"Yes dear?!" Julian called back.

"Have you seen the little utensil thingy that has a bunch of wires around it that you use to mix stuff together?" Brooke called out from the kitchen. She was trying to make him a secret dessert, since he surprised her last night with Gerber daisy's for no particular reason, but she was failing miserably.

"The what?" Julian asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"You know, you beat eggs with it, and theirs like 10 wires all bent around and you fluff stuff with it."

"The whisk? And don't you mean you _what_ stuff with it?" Julian asked, as he pulled the whisk from the drawer.

"Fluff. You know, put air in it and make it all fluffyful!" Brooke exclaimed, as she started beating the eggs with her new found utensil.

"Alright… have you heard from Peyton or Lucas today?" Julian asked, as he sat down on the counter and sipped his coffee.

"No, I haven't. Usually she calls me by now. Hmm. I'll have to call her after I get through cooking you…" Brooke said, as she stopped to flick some flour onto Julian, "breakfast!"

"Brooke. Penelope. Davis. I _know_ you did not just do that." Julian asked, as he eyed the flower that was now covering his bare torso.

"Oh yes I did!" Brooke said, and as she saw the look on his face, she began to run around the kitchen.

"Oh, you can run but you can't hide!" Julian hollered out, as he chased after her.

"Wait, wait! Let me answer the phone!" Brooke squeals, as Julian catches up with her, and begins tickling her; all while the phone is ringing.

"Hello?!"

"Hey Brooke! Have you by any chance heard from Lucas or Peyton today?" Haley asked; glad to have gotten Brooke on the phone.

"No, no I haven't heard from them." Brooke said.

"That's weird... Usually Lucas calls me after the doctor stops by for his morning rounds…"

"Yeah it is weird; Peyton usually calls me by now too... I'm sure their just busy…"

"BROOKE!" Haley screeched.

"No not THAT Kind of busy, just, yeah."

"Well, Nathan was going to go for a run then stop by, so maybe he'll figure out what's going on."

"Oh! I wish Julian would do that!" Brooke said dreamily.

"What? Stop by and see Lucas and Peyton?" Haley asked, confused.

"No, go running. He's fit and everything, but ahhh! There's just something about a sweaty man. Like, when I was over at your house dropping Jamie off, Nathan came in from running, and he was shirtless and he was sweaty and dang girl!"

"BROOKE! He's my HUSBAND!" Haley squealed out.

"I know, but he's still hot… oh, don't worry Julian, I think your hot too!" Brooke added, after Julian mocked pain from across the room.

"Oh well. I tried calling Nathan to see if he had gotten there yet, but he didn't answer. But he doesn't answer usually if he's running, so yeah. I gotta go run out and order the cake for the party, so I'll see you tonight? And oh! Call me if you hear anything!"

"Alllllright, sounds good to me. And yeah, I'll most definitely you know if I hear anything. Okay, see you tonight! Byee!"

"Haley?" Julian asked, after Brooke hung up the phone.

"Yeah, she hasn't heard from Leyton today, and wanted to know if I had." Brooke said, as she walked over to Julian.

"Leyton?" Julian asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Leyton. Lucas plus Peyton equals Leyton!" Brooke exclaimed happily.

"Alright, crazy girl."

----------

_Meanwhile, going on at the hospital…_

"Alright Miss Sawyer, MRI is ready for you" one of 2 male nurses said, as they walked in the room. "If you're ready, we'll go ahead and wheel you on down"

"Okay. You're coming aren't you?" Peyton asked Lucas.

"Can I?" Lucas asked the nurse.

"Yeah, there's a waiting room outside the scan room, so you can wait there."

"Hey, could you give us a minute right quick?" Peyton asked the guys.

"Uhm, yeah, sure. Just, make it quick cause their waiting for you down stairs." The other guy said, as they walked out the door.

"Peyt? Are you okay?" Lucas asked, as he got up and walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm scared Luke, I really am." Peyton said, and bit her lip, trying to keep the tears from falling down.

"Hey hey, it's okay, it really is. I promise. I'll be here, no matter what, okay? And remember that I love ya, blondie." Lucas said, as a few tears fell from Peyton's eyes.

"You good now?" Lucas asked, as he wiped away her tears.

Peyton nodded in response.

"Alright!" Lucas called out, for the 2 men to come back in.

"Let's go figure out what's going on in that head of yours" Lucas said, as he grabbed Peyton's hand, as they pushed her down the isle.

---------

"Uhm ,excuse me." Nathan asked one of the nurses, as he stepped out of Peyton's room.

"Yes?" the nurse replied.

"Do you happen to know where Peyton Sawyer is? This is her room, and she's not in here, and I know she hasn't been discharged..."

"Okay, let me just check her file." After glancing at her chart, the nurse spoke again.

"Looks like she was sent down to MRI for an MRI at 4:00pm, about 30 minutes ago." The nurse said, looking back up at Nathan.

"Oh. Is there a waiting room down there or something where people could wait for her or something?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, there is. 5th floor, to the right. You'll see a sign for MRI waiting room." the nurse said.

"Thanks so much!" Nathan called out, after sprinting to the elevator.

As Nathan rounded the corner on the 5th floor, he saw the room. He also saw Lucas, sitting in a chair, with his head in his hands.

"Hey bro, what's up?" Nathan asked, concerned.

"I don't even know man." Lucas said. You could hear the sadness in his voice.

"Umm, okay, first off, Uhm, what are we doing here?"

"Long story…" Lucas said, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I've got lots of time..." Nathan said, suggestively.

"Well, it started yesterday. Peyton didn't remember our first anniversary, you know, out by the lake."

"When her car broke down?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah. She also forgot the very first things we ever said, which really surprised me. Then, she completely dropped the bomb on me by asking where her mom was, and why she hadn't come by."

"Oh, wow!"

"Yeah, I know. Imagine telling a hormonal Haley that her mom was dead? It about broke my heart."

"I can see why… but I still don't get it. Why are we here?" Nathan asked, still not understanding why Peyton was getting an MRI done.

"Well, we told the doctor what happened, and he thought that something might be in her head, so he wanted to see what was going on."

"Like a tumor?"

"Yeah, something like that... so. Here we are."

Nathan was about to say something, but the doctor walking in stopped him.

"Mr. Scott?"

Both Lucas and Nathan replied.

"Yes?"

The doctor just looked on in confusion. "Er, Lucas Scott?"

"That's me, how's Peyton? Is she okay? How'd it go? What's wrong with her? Did you find something?" Lucas began shooting out the questions.

"Easy there. Peyton's fine. It went just perfectly, as we suspected. We're still not sure what's going on, and we won't be able to get a solid read from the test until tomorrow. She's being sent back up to her room now."

"Oh okay, thank you so much doctor." Lucas replied.

"No problem."

"Look, you can come up and see Peyton if you'd like..."

"Oh no, I'm fine. We're having dinner with Brooke and Julian tonight so I better get back anyway. Give Peyton my love though,"

"Oh, I will. Oh, and don't' mention this to Brooke. You can tell Haley, but Peyton doesn't want Brooke to know... she doesn't want to make Brooke sad again." Lucas said, as he stood up from his chair.

"Alright, you got it. Call me if there's anything we can do, I mean it."

"I know bro, thanks for sitting here with me for the past what, half hour?"

"Oh you got it. See ya later!"

"Bye" Lucas called out, as he stepped into the elevator.

-----

"Hey babe" Lucas said, as he walked into the room.

"LUKEY!" Peyton exclaimed, as she held her arms open for him to come hug her."I missed you!"

"I missed you too babe" Lucas said, as he chuckled.

"Do they know what's wrong with me?" Peyton asked, her voice becoming serious.

"No, they said that they'll know by tomorrow though."

"Oh, okay. Will you just lie here with me?"

"I sure will. But is little Peyton here hungry?"

"No, little Lucas _isn't_."

They were constantly bickering back and forth between the two sexes, but they both knew that it was all in fun and games.

---------

_The next day_

"Miss Sawyer, Mr. Scott, I'm glad to see you're both here." The doctor said, as he walked in.

"Yes, I'm here pretty much all the time..." Peyton said.

"Do you have the results of her MRI?" Lucas asked the doctor

"Yes, yes I do. And the results are very clear. As you can see right here, Miss Sawyer, that it is very clear that you have a brain tumor that's pushing onto the back of your brain, hence the sporadic memory loss. The good thing is, we should be able to do surgery and remove it, but I'll let the brain surgeon come in and talk to you about that."

And with that, Peyton completely fell into Lucas' arms, sobbing, and clinging to the one thing in her life that mattered most; him.

**A/N; so, I suck. I know. I went to Canada for a mission trip, and I tried to get this done before I left, but didn't. Then just, life had OTHER plans for instead of writing, so I'm so sorry that it has taken this long. Quick shout out to SMC-27, my 50****th**** reviewer! Thanks girl! And, the more reviews I get the faster I write.. muahaha. Please review!**


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